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

After ended second in their qualification group thanks to a decisive 7-1 victory over North Macedonia – their largest win since 1978 – the side will play the semifinal match on their own turf.

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

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw feels the Dragons will relish a tie against any team following their latest performance at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I'm familiar with Craig Bellamy, we were teammates with him and his mindset is 'bring on anyone, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw said.

"Many supporters were wondering last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland because of that local atmosphere?'. I think a number of supporters were hesitant. But personally, that could be incredible.

"So it's that type of situation, indeed, we'll take Kosovo or the Bosnians and the Albanians are decent and Ireland, naturally, they are a capable team so it will be difficult.

"But the sense is that we're prepared for anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and much of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

Potential Playoff Semifinal Opponents Assessed

Wales are placed thirty-fourth in the world standings, with Albania sixty-first, Ireland 62nd, Bosnia-Herzegovina seventy-fifth and the Kosovan side eighty-fourth.

Albania had a impressive qualifying run, with their sole losses suffered at the hands of Group K winners England, who claimed full points without conceding a single goal.

The Premier League's Armando Broja and the Serie A side's Elseid Hysaj are among the Albanian squad's more notable players, although it was former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Watford striker Rey Manaj who topped their goal tally in qualifying with 3 goals.

Notably, the Albanians have not yet earned a spot for a FIFA World Cup, although they participated at Euro 2016 and the 2024 Euros, not managing to reach the knockout stages on each occasions.

While Slovenia and Sweden had torrid runs, with both failing to win a qualifying match, their group was a straight shootout between Switzerland and the Kosovan team.

The Swiss ended the six-match qualifiers three points ahead of the Kosovans, whose single defeat came at the hands of the group winners.

Kosovo feature ex- Manchester City goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and La Liga's Vedat Muriqi – his country's all-time leading goalscorer – in a team aiming for a maiden major tournament appearance.

They have not yet played Wales.

Bosnia-Herzegovina were defeated only one time in the qualifiers, and claimed a point additional than Wales managed in their eight games, but nonetheless finished 2 points adrift of Group H winners Austria.

They were a quarter of an hour away from clinching a spot at the World Cup, but Michael Gregoritsch's equaliser for the Austrians meant the pair tied in the final game of qualifying and Ralf Rangnick's team topped the group.

Wales have failed to defeat the Bosnian side in 4 attempts but did have a unforgettable loss against the Dragons as they earned qualification for Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman even after the defeat.

As his nation's historic top goalscorer and most-capped player, former Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko, now at Fiorentina, is undoubtedly Bosnia-Herzegovina's standout player.

The veteran was his team's leading goalscorer in the qualifiers with 5 goals.

And finally, we have Republic of Ireland.

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

Troy Parrott scored the two goals against the 2016 European Championship winners Portugal before bagging a hat-trick – with the final goal arriving in the 96th minute – as the Irish stunned Hungary to secure second place in their group in dramatic style.

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

Ireland are without a win in their past 4 encounters with Wales, losing three of those, though James McClean broke the hopes of the Red Wall as Martin O'Neill's men won a decisive World Cup qualifying match at Cardiff City Stadium in 2017.