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The team's sights are firmly on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification group following a dominant 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Kosovan team or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw believes the Welsh squad will welcome a tie against whichever team after their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many fans were saying recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view many supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so they'll be challenging.

"But you just feel that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semi-final Opponents Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world standings, with Albania 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo 84th.

The Albanian national team had a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with 3 goals.

Importantly, Albania have never earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a points more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended two points behind of their group winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in 4 matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his nation's all-time leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's star player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with five goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

After taken only a single point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the play-offs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before scoring a hat-trick – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second spot in their group in dramatic style.

Talisman Seamus Coleman had a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their past four encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, though James McClean shattered the hopes of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.