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Wales claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over underdogs Liechtenstein to sustain their aspirations of World Cup finals qualification.

The young midfielder notched his first goal for the national team from inside the box after Liechtenstein’s mix of full-time players, office workers and part-timers had held out for over an hour. The scorer ran off in elation with his clear emotion mirrored by the large contingent of Wales supporters occupying most sections of the stadium in the capital.

Moments later, yet, James was cautioned and another yellow for Ethan Ampadu resulted in both midfielders are unavailable for the upcoming crunch tie with North Macedonia through disciplinary issues.

The Wales' ground match is a clash the Welsh team have to secure victory in to overtake their rivals and obtain a more favourable draw in the qualifying playoffs in next spring.

Craig Bellamy had an different perspective from the sidelines, Bellamy undertaking a sideline suspension after picking up a additional booking in the tournament last month.

Bellamy’s number two Cremers assumed duties in the dugout and multiple first-teamers – James, Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Williams – were at risk of suspension from sitting out the concluding match. A pair came unstuck in incidents that might hamper their team.

The home side, situated among the lowest-ranked in world football, had failed to score in their winless run and let in 23 goals at an rate of almost four per match.

The visitors as expected had most of the play as their hosts employed a low defensive block and defended in numbers.

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

That pairing created another chance, Jordan locating his teammate this time with a precise ball over the top.

Broadhead’s excellent touch took him past Büchel but the forward could not convert from a tight angle.

The Welsh team believed they'd scored the opener after the opening period when Jordan James nodded a lofted Sorba Thomas corner back into a packed goal area.

Büchel was flustered by Dylan Lawlor and Joe Rodon, and his weak punch fell to Nathan Broadhead who finished powerfully. But Welsh celebrations were halted when the referee was instructed to the VAR screen and decided that a player of the Wales defenders was in an offside from James’s header.

The visitors raised the tempo after the half-time and Sorba Thomas provided a cross to the opposite side which James rattled against the frame of the goal.

Williams then missed with a header from inside the goal area as it began to look like a frustrating evening for Wales.

Yet, with the match having ticked into its final half-hour, Neco Williams executed a shrewd pass for his teammate to get in behind the home defence.

James cut out Büchel with a superb ball along the six-yard box, and his namesake Jordan had the easy job of relieving Wales' nerves.