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The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff fixture as they await learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

Having ended second in their qualifying pool thanks to a decisive 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal match on home soil.

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

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against any team after their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his approach is 'give us anyone, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"A lot of supporters were wondering last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that local feel?'. I think a number of people were hesitant. But for me, that could be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, yes, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a capable team so it will be tough.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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Wales sit 34th in the FIFA rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a solid qualification run, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who secured full 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 players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

It is worth noting, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a direct battle between Switzerland and Kosovo.

The Swiss finished the six-game qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose single defeat was at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad include ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's historic leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a first international competition appearance.

They have never faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but still ended two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from clinching a spot at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but experienced a unforgettable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

Being his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

The 39-year-old was his squad's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

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

Key player Seamus Coleman played a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.