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Wales claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory against international minnows Liechtenstein to keep alive their aspirations of World Cup finals qualification.

Jordan James claimed his debut international strike for Wales from near the goal after Liechtenstein’s group of professionals, office workers and part-timers had held out for over an hour. James wheeled away in joy with his clear emotion mirrored by the 3,000 Wales fans occupying three sides of the venue in Vaduz.

Soon afterwards, yet, Jordan James was shown a yellow card and a further late caution for Ethan Ampadu means the pair are unavailable for the upcoming crunch tie with North Macedonia through suspension.

That Wales' ground contest is a game Wales must win to leapfrog North Macedonia and guarantee a better position in the qualifying playoffs in next spring.

Craig Bellamy had an unusual perspective from the sidelines, the Wales manager serving a sideline suspension after picking up a additional booking in the qualifiers previously.

The manager's assistant his assistant assumed duties in the dugout and several key players – Jordan James, Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Williams – were at risk of suspension from being absent for the concluding match. A pair received cautions in moments that might hamper Wales.

The home side, ranked near the bottom in global rankings, had been goalless in their winless run and allowed twenty-three times at an average of almost four per fixture.

The visitors as expected had most of the play as their hosts adopted a compact shape and defended in numbers.

The home goal remained unthreatened until Nathan Broadhead pressing won possession and Jordan James saw his effort from the 18-yard line pushed aside by the goalkeeper.

The same combination worked the next opening, Jordan finding his teammate on this occasion with a well-weighted ball over the top.

Broadhead’s excellent touch evaded Büchel but the attacker failed to finish from a difficult angle.

Wales felt they scored the opener after the first half when James directed a deep Thomas corner back into a crowded goal area.

The Liechtenstein keeper was under pressure by Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his poor clearance reached Nathan Broadhead who finished powerfully. But Welsh celebrations were curtailed when the referee was instructed to the VAR screen and determined that one or more of the Welsh defenders was in an offside from James’s initial touch.

The visitors raised the tempo after the break and Thomas provided a cross to the back post which Daniel James hit the frame of the goal.

Neco Williams then directed his header off target from within the penalty box as it began to look like one of those nights for the Welsh side.

Yet, with the match having ticked into its 61st minute, Williams delivered a shrewd assist for his teammate to get in behind the opposition backline.

James cut out the goalkeeper with a delightful cross across the face of goal, and his namesake Jordan had the straightforward job of ending Wales' tension.