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Wales secured a hard-fought 1-0 win against less-fancied opponents Liechtenstein to keep alive their hopes of World Cup progress.

Wales' James claimed his maiden international strike for Wales from near the goal after Liechtenstein’s mix of full-time players, office workers and part-timers had held out for over an hour. The scorer celebrated in joy with his obvious relief shared by the 3,000 Wales followers occupying three sides of the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.

Moments later, however, James was shown a yellow card and another yellow for his midfield partner ensured the two players are ruled out for the upcoming crunch tie with North Macedonia through suspension.

The home venue match is a encounter Wales have to secure victory in to overtake their rivals and obtain a better seeding in the qualifying playoffs in next spring.

Bellamy had an unfamiliar view from the sidelines, the Wales manager serving a touchline ban after being shown a further caution in the tournament earlier.

Bellamy’s assistant Piet Cremers took his place in the coaching zone and four of Wales’s starters – James, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Neco Williams – were at risk of suspension from sitting out the concluding match. Both James and Ampadu received cautions in moments that may damage their team.

Their opponents, situated among the lowest-ranked in world football, had not scored in their previous six losses and allowed twenty-three times at an rate of nearly four per match.

The visitors unsurprisingly controlled the ball as Liechtenstein adopted a deep defensive line and got bodies behind the ball.

Their opponent's target remained unthreatened until Nathan Broadhead pressing caused a mistake and James saw his shot from the edge of the box saved by Benjamin Büchel.

A similar move crafted an opportunity, Jordan locating his teammate on this occasion with a accurate pass over the top.

Broadhead’s excellent touch took him past Büchel but the Wrexham striker could not convert from a narrow position.

The Welsh team thought they had scored the opener after 26 minutes when Jordan James headed a deep Sorba Thomas set-piece back into a packed penalty box.

Büchel was flustered by Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch landed with Broadhead who finished powerfully. But Welsh elation were curtailed when the official was instructed to the video review system and ruled that one or more of the Welsh central defenders was in an offside from James’s header.

The visitors stepped up a gear after the break and Thomas delivered a centering pass to the far post which the winger rattled against the frame of the goal.

Neco Williams then headed wide from inside the penalty box as it appeared like a difficult match for the Welsh side.

Yet, with the match having reached its final half-hour, Neco Williams played a clever assist for his teammate to get in behind the home defence.

Daniel James beat Büchel with a superb ball along the six-yard box, and his teammate Jordan James had the simple task of easing Wales' nerves.