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The team's focus are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semi-final and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying group thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, the Kosovan team or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against any team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were asking last night, 'should we really want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Rivals Reviewed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo 84th.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the last 16 on both times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

As his country's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After secured only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 meetings with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.