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The team's sights are firmly on Thursday's World Cup playoff draw as they prepare for learning their semi-final and potential final challengers.

After ended as runners-up in their qualification pool following a commanding 7-1 win over North Macedonia – their largest success since 1978 – Wales will play the semifinal encounter on their own turf.

They will play against either Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo or Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Ex- Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will welcome a tie against whichever team following their latest result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'give us whoever, we're ready'," Earnshaw said.

"A lot of fans were saying last night, 'should we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local feel?'. In my view a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that would be amazing.

"It's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and Albania are decent and Republic of Ireland, naturally, they're a capable team so it will be challenging.

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

Possible Play-off Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales sit thirty-fourth in the FIFA standings, with Albania sixty-first, Republic of Ireland 62nd, Bosnia seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

The Albanian national team had a solid qualifying campaign, with their only defeats suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who secured maximum points without conceding a solitary goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are part of the Red and Blacks's recognizable players, though it was ex- Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford forward Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with three goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet qualified for a FIFA World Cup, although they featured at Euro 2016 and Euro 2024, not managing to advance to the last 16 on each times.

As Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both not managing to win a qualification match, Group B was a direct battle between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Switzerland finished the six-match qualifiers 3 points clear of Kosovo, whose one defeat came at the hands of the pool winners.

Kosovo feature former Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and Mallorca's Vedat Muriqi – his nation's all-time top scorer – in a team aiming for a first major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played the Welsh team.

Bosnia were defeated just once in the qualifiers, and earned a points more than Wales managed in their eight games, but still ended 2 points adrift of Group H 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 pair drew in the last game of qualification and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the pool.

The Welsh have not managed to beat the Bosnian side in 4 matches but did have a memorable loss against Zmajevi as they qualified for the 2016 European Championship under Chris Coleman even after losing.

Being his country's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, ex- Manchester City forward Edin Dzeko, currently with Fiorentina, is unquestionably Bosnia-Herzegovina's key player.

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

Lastly, we have Republic of Ireland.

Having taken only a single point from their first 3 qualifiers, Heimir Hallgrímsson's side surged into the play-offs with successive wins against Armenia, Portugal and Hungary.

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before scoring a triple – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to take runner-up spot in Group F in dramatic style.

Key player Seamus Coleman had a crucial role in his side's resurgence while Premier League goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has made the starting position his to keep.

The Republic of Ireland are without a win in their last four meetings with Wales, losing three of these, though 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.