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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.

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

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a match against whichever team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were saying recently, 'should we really want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However the sense is that we're prepared for anyone at the moment and we're confident, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semifinal Opponents Reviewed

Wales are placed 34th in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualification run, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a single goal.

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

Importantly, the Albanians have never qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor 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 campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one loss came at the hands of the group winners.

The Kosovan squad feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After secured just one point from their first three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

Ireland are without a win in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.