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The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup play-off fixture as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final rivals.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a commanding 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – the side will host the semifinal encounter on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will relish a tie against whichever team after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw stated.

"Many people were saying recently, 'should we actually want Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. In my view a number of supporters didn't. But for me, that could be fantastic.

"So it's one of those, yes, we're ready for Kosovo or Bosnia and the Albanians are competitive and Ireland, of course, they're a capable team so it will be tough.

"However the sense is that we'll take anyone right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Potential Play-off Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA rankings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina 75th and Kosovo eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification campaign, with their only losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full 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 prominent players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their scoring chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have never earned a spot for a World Cup, though they featured at the 2016 European Championship and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the knockout stages on both occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden endured torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

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

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

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina lost only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point additional than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but still ended two points adrift of their group winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have not managed to defeat the Bosnian side in four matches but did have a unforgettable defeat against the Dragons as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic leading scorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his squad's leading goalscorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their opening 3 matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side stormed into the playoffs 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 Group F in dramatic fashion.

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

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, defeated in three of these, although James McClean broke the hearts of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.