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The team's attention are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff fixture as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final opponents.

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

They will play against either the Albanian side, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that match on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be incredible.

"It's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"But the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team enjoyed a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed maximum points without allowing a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's more notable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to reach the last 16 on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature 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 international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia lost just once in the qualifiers, and earned a point additional than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of Group H winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, ex- 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 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland stunned Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic style.

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

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, defeated in 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.