🔗 Share this article

Wales secured a tight 1-0 victory against underdogs Liechtenstein to maintain their hopes of World Cup finals qualification.

Jordan James claimed his first international strike for Wales from close range after Liechtenstein’s mix of professionals, amateurs and students had resisted for more than 60 minutes. James ran off in elation with his clear emotion echoed by the 3,000 Wales followers occupying most sections of the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.

Soon afterwards, though, James was shown a yellow card and another booking for his midfield partner resulted in the pair are ruled out for the upcoming crunch tie with North Macedonia due to disciplinary issues.

That home venue fixture is a encounter Wales must win to overtake their rivals and guarantee a better seeding in the final round in March.

Bellamy had an unusual perspective from the dugout, the Wales manager serving a sideline suspension after receiving a further caution in the qualifiers earlier.

Bellamy’s assistant Cremers stood in in the dugout and four of Wales’s starters – James, Ethan Ampadu, Rodon, Neco Williams – were one caution from from being absent for the last group game. Both James and Ampadu were booked in moments that might hamper Wales.

The home side, ranked among the lowest-ranked in global rankings, had not scored in their winless run and conceded twenty-three goals at an rate of around four per match.

The visitors predictably dominated possession as Liechtenstein adopted a deep defensive line and got bodies behind the ball.

Liechtenstein's net saw little action until Broadhead pressing caused a mistake and Jordan James saw his attempt from the 18-yard line pushed aside by the goalkeeper.

That pairing created another chance, James finding Broadhead now with a well-weighted pass into space.

The attacker's fine first touch took him past Büchel but the attacker could not convert from a difficult angle.

The Welsh team felt they scored the opener after the opening period when James headed a lofted Thomas set-piece back into a packed goal area.

Büchel was flustered by Lawlor and Joe Rodon, and his weak punch landed with Nathan Broadhead who drove home emphatically. But Wales' joy were halted when the referee was directed to the video review system and decided that at least one of the Wales central defenders was in an illegal position from James’s initial touch.

Wales stepped up a gear after the break and Sorba Thomas provided a ball to the back post which the winger hit the crossbar.

Neco Williams then missed with a header from inside the six-yard box as it began to look like a frustrating evening for Wales.

But, with the game having reached its final half-hour, Neco Williams delivered a clever through ball for Daniel James to run past the Liechtenstein defenders.

Daniel James beat the goalkeeper with a excellent cross across the face of goal, and his teammate Jordan had the straightforward opportunity of relieving Wales' nerves.