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The team's sights are squarely on the upcoming World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for discovering their semi-final and possible final challengers.

Having finished as runners-up in their qualifying pool following a decisive 7-1 win 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, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales forward Rob Earnshaw thinks the Welsh squad will embrace a match against whichever opponent after their most recent performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of fans were asking last night, 'do we really want Ireland as it's that derby atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's one of those, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are competitive and Republic of Ireland, of course, they are a very good team so it will be difficult.

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

Possible Playoff Semi-final Rivals Assessed

The Welsh squad sit 34th in the world rankings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

Albania had a strong qualification campaign, with their sole losses coming at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Albanian squad's prominent names, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal chart in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at the 2016 European Championship and the 2024 Euros, failing to advance to the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult runs, with both failing to win a qualification 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 defeat was at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time leading goalscorer – in a squad aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have never faced the Welsh team.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and claimed a points additional than the Welsh managed in their 8 games, but nonetheless finished two points behind of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from securing a place at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team won the group.

Wales have failed to beat the Bosnians in 4 attempts but experienced a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman despite the defeat.

As his country's all-time top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia's key player.

The veteran was his squad's top scorer in qualifying with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

Having taken just one point from their first three matches, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs with back-to-back wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored both goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up place in their group in dramatic fashion.

Talisman Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his side's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

Ireland are winless in their past 4 encounters with the Welsh, defeated in 3 of these, although James McClean shattered the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's team won a crucial World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.