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The team's focus are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and potential final rivals.

After ended as runners-up in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against any opponent after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of supporters were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that would be fantastic.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their only losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have never qualified for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

While Slovenia and Sweden had poor campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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

Kosovo feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic leading goalscorer – in a squad targeting a first international competition appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the teams tied in the last game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with five goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott netted both goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take second place in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his team's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of those, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.