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The team's sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying group following a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will play the semi-final match on home soil.

They will meet either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his approach is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a strong team so it will be tough.

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

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

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

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

It is worth noting, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, failing to reach the knockout stages on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a squad targeting a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia lost just once in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's all-time leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

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

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four meetings with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.