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The team's attention are squarely on Thursday's World Cup play-off draw as they prepare for learning their semifinal and possible final rivals.

After finished as runners-up in their qualification group thanks to a commanding 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 the Albanian side, Bosnia, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against whichever team following their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'bring on anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw commented.

"A lot of people were saying recently, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that could be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so they'll be challenging.

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

Possible Play-off Semi-final Opponents Evaluated

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualifying campaign, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without allowing a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal chart in qualifying with three goals.

Importantly, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they participated at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on both times.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid campaigns, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Switzerland ended the six-match qualifiers three points clear of Kosovo, whose single loss came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo include ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's historic top scorer – in a team targeting a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in qualifying, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their 8 games, but still ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

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

Wales have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after losing.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

Lastly, we have 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 scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Republic of Ireland surprised Hungary to secure second place in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their past four meetings with Wales, losing 3 of these, though James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.