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The team's attention are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they await discovering their semifinal and possible final challengers.

After ended second in their qualification pool thanks to a commanding 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their biggest success since 1978 – the side will play the semi-final match on home soil.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Welsh squad will embrace a tie against any team after their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'bring on whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw commented.

"Many supporters were asking last night, 'should we actually want Republic of Ireland because of that derby feel?'. I think a number of people didn't. But personally, that would be amazing.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take the Kosovans or Bosnia and the Albanians are not bad and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they are a very good team so it will be tough.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and we're confident, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

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Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with the Albanian team 61st, Ireland sixty-second, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania enjoyed a impressive qualifying campaign, with their sole defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured full points without conceding a single goal.

Burnley's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who led their goal tally in the qualifiers with three goals.

It is worth noting, Albania have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, though they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, failing to reach the last 16 on each occasions.

As Slovenia and Sweden had difficult campaigns, with both failing to win a qualification match, Group B was a straight shootout between Switzerland and Kosovo.

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 include former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team targeting a maiden international competition appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than the Welsh achieved in their 8 games, but nonetheless ended 2 points behind of their group winners Austria.

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

The Welsh have failed to defeat the Bosnians in four matches but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman despite losing.

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

The veteran was his team's top scorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

Lastly, we have Ireland.

After taken just one point from their opening 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the playoffs 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 stunned Hungary to secure runner-up place in Group F in thrilling style.

Key player Seamus Coleman played a vital role in his team's revival while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the number one position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are winless in their last four encounters with the Welsh, defeated in three of these, though 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.