On the back of a near-faultless run in Pool C, Wales gear up for a seventh Rugby World Cup quarter-final, as Argentina meet Warren Gatland's charges at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille to open this weekend's action.

Coming up against Fiji, Australia, Portugal and Georgia in the first phase of the competition, Wales sealed a first-placed finish with a quartet of victories, achieving the four-try bonus point in three of those successes.

The seventh-ranked nation already boast plentiful quarter-final experience on the world's biggest stage - with varying degrees of success - but Wales' trophy case remains without a Webb Ellis Cup shining brightly.

Ahead of Saturday's highly-anticipated showdown, Sports Mole takes a trip down memory lane to look at Wales' previous quarter-final appearances at the Rugby World Cup.

1987 - England 3-16 Wales

Joining six other invited International Rugby Football Board members for the first-ever Rugby World Cup in 1987, Wales quickly made their presence felt in the pool stage, overcoming Ireland, Canada and Tonga with relative ease.

England stood in their way of a place in the semi-finals, but the resilient Welsh defence only allowed three points through a Jonathan Webb penalty while Gareth Roberts, Robert Jones and John Devereux all crossed the line.

Six days later, Tony Gray's men would be subjected to a humiliating 49-6 semi-final beating at the hands of New Zealand, but the bronze medal was still secured in Rotorua, as they saw off co-hosts Australia 22-21 in the third-placed playoff.

1999 - Wales 9-24 Australia

Wales' runs at the 1991 and 1995 World Cup both ended in the pool stage, but a third-straight early elimination was unthinkable for the 1999 edition, as the IRB awarded the nation the hosting rights following the opening of the Millennium Stadium.

Crowds were also welcomed to the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and Llanelli's Stradey Park as Wales topped their group by beating Argentina and Japan, but their momentum would suffer a blow with a final defeat to Samoa nine days before an Australia reunion.

Despite torrid weather conditions, 74,000 fans rocked up to the Millennium Stadium to witness Australia take their revenge for their 1987 beating, as two tries from George Gregan and an effort from Ben Tune meant that Neil Jenkins's trio of penalties counted for nothing.

2003 - England 28-17 Wales

There was no quelling the All Blacks juggernaut in the opening phase of the 2003 World Cup in Australia, as Wales succumbed to a final pool-stage loss to New Zealand, although they had already overcome Italy, Tonga and Canada by that point.

Steve Hansen was at the helm as Wales took on England in the quarter-finals, 16 years on from their 1987 showdown, but the latter would avenge that last-eight beating en route to world stardom.

Despite leading at half time through Colin Charvis and Stephen Jones, the Welsh were pegged back by Will Greenwood and Jonny Wilkinson, who registered one conversion, one penalty and one drop goal before repeating his trick in an unforgettable final later that month.

2011 - Ireland 10-22 Wales

A return to Millennium territory in 2007 did not have the desired effect for Wales, but Gatland's men were in a ruthless mood throughout the 2011 pool phase, finishing second behind South Africa but amassing a section-high 180 points.

An 81-7 obliteration of Namibia and 66-0 trouncing of Fiji were largely to thank for that, and Wales took just three minutes to flaunt their attacking firepower against Ireland in the quarter-finals, opening the scoring through Shane Williams.

Keith Earls restored parity for the Irish, but second-half efforts from Mike Phillips and Jonathan Davies propelled Wales to their first semi-final since the inaugural 1987 edition, but subsequent losses to France and Australia meant that Gatland's team had to settle for fourth.

2015 - South Africa 23-19 Wales

While England were blessed with hosting rights for the 2015 tournament, Cardiff's Millennium Stadium still became a regular haunt for competing teams, and Wales also earned the bragging rights over their neighbours in the pool stage, finishing second behind Australia to eliminate the English.

Wales' reward was a knockout meeting with the Springboks of South Africa, and dead-ball situations dominated the affair, as Handre Pollard and Dan Biggar engaged in a fierce head-to-head battle for kicking supremacy.

Gatland's side had also crossed the line through Gareth Davies in the first half and were on course for a second successive semi-final appearance, but with 75 minutes gone, Fourie du Preez's moment of magic crushed the Welsh dream.

2019 - Wales 20-19 France

Remarkably matching Australia's haul of 136 points in the 2019 pool stage, Wales's slender win over the Wallabies proved decisive, as Gatland led his side to four wins from four in Japan to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final showdown with France.

Gatland's men left something to be desired defensively in the pool stage, though, and France notched two tries through Sebastien Vahaamahina and Charles Ollivon, before Aaron Wainwright and Virimi Vakatawa also registered for their nations before the break.

With only six minutes to go, however, Ross Moriarty's try propelled Wales to a win that even Gatland admitted was undeserved - comments that did little to ignite a fire within his side, who failed to make it onto the podium owing to subsequent losses to South Africa and New Zealand.