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The team's focus are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on home soil.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of people were asking last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a strong qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but experienced a memorable defeat against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up spot in their group in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his own.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, losing 3 of those, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.