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The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and potential final rivals.

After ended second in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. In my view many people didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with each failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.