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The team's attention are firmly on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final opponents.

After finished second in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will relish a match against any opponent after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many supporters were saying recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so it will be challenging.

"But you just feel that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with the Albanian team sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualification campaign, with their only defeats coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally 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 reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss ended the six-match campaign three points clear of the Kosovans, whose single loss was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

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

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

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's star player.

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

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their opening three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs with successive 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 coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second spot in their group in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his own.

Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.