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The Welsh side claimed a hard-fought 1-0 win against underdogs Liechtenstein to sustain their hopes of World Cup finals progress.

Jordan James notched his debut goal for the national team from inside the box after Liechtenstein’s assorted collection of professionals, office workers and part-timers had held out for the majority of the match. James ran off in joy with his obvious relief mirrored by the 3,000 Welsh supporters packed into most sections of the Rheinpark Stadion in the capital.

Soon afterwards, however, James was shown a yellow card and a further late caution for Ethan Ampadu resulted in the two players are unavailable for Tuesday’s crunch tie with North Macedonia due to disciplinary issues.

That home venue match is a encounter the Welsh team must win to move above their rivals and guarantee a more favourable seeding in the qualifying playoffs in March.

Bellamy had an different perspective from the stands, Bellamy serving a sideline suspension after being shown a further caution in the tournament previously.

The manager's deputy Piet Cremers stood in in the technical area and four of Wales’s starters – Jordan James, Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Neco Williams – were a booking away from being absent for the final qualifier. Two of them came unstuck in incidents that might hamper their team.

Their opponents, placed near the bottom in international football, had not scored in their previous six losses and let in 23 times at an rate of nearly four per fixture.

The visitors predictably dominated possession as Liechtenstein lay in a compact shape and got bodies behind the ball.

The home goal was rarely tested until the forward's high press caused a mistake and Jordan James saw his effort from the penalty area parried by the goalkeeper.

A similar move crafted an opportunity, Jordan finding Broadhead now with a well-weighted ball into space.

The attacker's fine touch beat Büchel but the attacker was unable to score from a narrow position.

Wales thought they had scored the opener after the opening period when Jordan James headed a deep Sorba Thomas set-piece back into a packed penalty box.

Büchel was under pressure by Dylan Lawlor and Joe Rodon, and his weak punch fell to Broadhead who drove home emphatically. But Wales' elation were halted when the official was sent to the VAR screen and determined that a player of the Welsh centre-halves was in an offside position from James’s initial touch.

Wales raised the tempo after the interval and Thomas sent in a centering pass to the back post which James struck the frame of the goal.

Williams then headed wide from within the penalty box as it started to seem like one of those nights for Wales.

Yet, with the match having reached its second half, Neco Williams played a clever assist for Daniel James to break behind the opposition backline.

James bypassed the goalkeeper with a superb cross into the danger area, and his teammate Jordan had the easy task of ending Welsh anxiety.