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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished second in their qualifying group following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal match on home soil.

They will meet either the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace 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 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many supporters were wondering recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody at the moment and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualifying run, with their sole losses 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 the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to reach the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-match campaign 3 points ahead of the Kosovans, whose one loss came at the hands of the pool winners.

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

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still finished 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to beat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and record appearance player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The 39-year-old was his team's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure runner-up spot in Group F in thrilling fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his side's revival while Brentford goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their past four meetings with Wales, defeated in three of those, although 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.