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The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final rivals.

Having finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will face either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any opponent following their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"Many supporters were asking recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. In my view many supporters didn't. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

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

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification run, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to advance to the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with each not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers 3 points ahead of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

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

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the pair tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing 3 of those, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.