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Wales secured a narrow 1-0 victory against underdogs Liechtenstein to keep alive their aspirations of World Cup qualification.

Wales' James notched his maiden international strike for the national team from near the goal after the home side's group of professionals, office workers and students had defended for over an hour. The scorer wheeled away in delight with his obvious relief shared by the three thousand Wales supporters occupying three sides of the stadium in Vaduz.

Soon afterwards, however, James was booked and another late caution for Ethan Ampadu ensured both midfielders are unavailable for Tuesday’s crunch tie with North Macedonia due to suspension.

That home venue match is a game Wales have to secure victory in to move above North Macedonia and guarantee a better seeding in the qualifying playoffs in next spring.

Craig Bellamy had an unusual perspective from the dugout, the Wales manager serving a technical area prohibition after picking up a further caution in the qualifiers last month.

The manager's assistant his assistant stood in in the technical area and multiple first-teamers – James, Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Williams – were at risk of suspension from being absent for the final qualifier. Both James and Ampadu came unstuck in incidents that might hamper their team.

Liechtenstein, ranked 206 out of 210 teams in global rankings, had been goalless in their six qualifying defeats and conceded 23 times at an rate of almost four per fixture.

The visitors unsurprisingly dominated possession as Liechtenstein lay in a low defensive block and got bodies behind the ball.

Their opponent's target was rarely tested until Nathan Broadhead pressing won possession and James saw his effort from the penalty area parried by the goalkeeper.

That pairing crafted an opportunity, Jordan finding Broadhead on this occasion with a well-weighted pass behind the defence.

The attacker's fine touch took him past Büchel but the forward was unable to score from a difficult angle.

Wales believed they'd scored the opener after the first half when Jordan James headed a lofted Sorba Thomas corner back into a congested goal area.

The Liechtenstein keeper was under pressure by Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch landed with Nathan Broadhead who drove home emphatically. But Wales' elation were curtailed when the match official was instructed to the pitchside monitor and ruled that a player of the Wales centre-halves was in an offside from Jordan's initial touch.

Wales raised the tempo after the break and Thomas delivered a ball to the opposite side which Daniel James hit the woodwork.

Neco Williams then headed wide from within the six-yard box as it started to seem like a difficult match for Wales.

But, with the contest having reached its 61st minute, Neco Williams delivered a clever assist for Daniel James to break behind the home defence.

Daniel James bypassed the goalkeeper with a delightful ball into the danger area, and his teammate Jordan James had the straightforward job of ending Welsh tension.