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The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended second in their qualification pool following a dominant 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many supporters were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualification campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured poor campaigns, with each not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

The Kosovan squad include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

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