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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and potential final opponents.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

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

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"Many people were wondering last night, 'do we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think many people didn't. But personally, that could be incredible.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Ireland, of course, they're a strong team so they'll be challenging.

"However you just feel that we'll take anyone at the moment and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Rivals Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

Albania had a strong qualifying campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

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

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss was at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have never played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but still ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last 4 meetings with the Welsh, losing three of these, although James McClean broke the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.