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The team's sights are squarely on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will host the semi-final encounter on their own turf.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will relish a tie against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of fans were wondering recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be difficult.

"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 Assessed

The Welsh squad are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualification run, with their sole defeats coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured maximum points without allowing a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they participated at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-game qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales achieved in their eight games, but still finished two points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

Being his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening three qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the third goal coming in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to take second place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting jersey his own.

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