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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup play-off fixture as they await discovering their semifinal and potential final challengers.

Having ended as runners-up in their qualifying pool thanks to a dominant 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia – their biggest win since 1978 – Wales will host the semi-final match on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw thinks the Dragons will embrace a match against whichever opponent following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

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

"A lot of fans were wondering recently, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. In my view many people were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we're ready for the Kosovans or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a strong team so it will be tough.

"However you just feel that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and much of that is because of Craig Bellamy."

Possible Play-off Semi-final Rivals Evaluated

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side 84th.

The Albanian national team had a strong qualification run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of their group winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and Lazio's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's prominent names, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who led their scoring tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

Notably, Albania have not yet qualified for a World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on both occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden endured poor runs, with both not managing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss finished the six-game campaign 3 points clear of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

The Kosovan squad feature former Manchester City keeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a squad aiming for a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet faced Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in qualifying, and claimed a point more than the Welsh achieved in their eight games, but nonetheless ended two points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were 13 minutes away from securing a place at the finals, but Michael Gregoritsch's leveler for the Austrians ensured the teams drew in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team won the pool.

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but experienced a unforgettable defeat against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

Being his country's historic leading scorer and record appearance player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia's standout player.

The veteran was his team's top scorer in qualifying with five 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 netted the two goals against Euro 2016 winners Portugal before bagging a triple – with the third goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish surprised Hungary to take runner-up place in Group F in dramatic fashion.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's revival while Premier League keeper Caoimhin Kelleher has secured the number one jersey his own.

Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with Wales, losing three of these, although James McClean shattered the hearts of the Welsh fans as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifier at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.