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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final rivals.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualification group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

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

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many people were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that derby feel?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a strong team so it will be challenging.

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

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed 34th in the world standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, although it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their scoring tally in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 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 top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a point more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing 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.

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

After 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 scored both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, defeated in 3 of those, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.