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The Welsh side earned a narrow 1-0 win over international minnows Liechtenstein to maintain their hopes of World Cup finals progress.

The young midfielder scored his debut international strike for the national team from inside the box after Liechtenstein’s group of full-time players, amateurs and students had defended for more than 60 minutes. The scorer wheeled away in joy with his obvious relief echoed by the three thousand Wales fans filling three sides of the venue in Vaduz.

Moments later, however, James was booked and another booking for his midfield partner ensured the pair are unavailable for Tuesday’s crunch tie with their next opponents due to disciplinary issues.

That Cardiff City Stadium contest is a game Wales need to win to move above North Macedonia and secure a more favourable seeding in the playoffs in March.

Craig Bellamy had an different view from the dugout, the head coach completing a sideline suspension after being shown a second yellow card in the qualifiers earlier.

The manager's number two his assistant took his place in the dugout and four of Wales’s starters – James, Ethan Ampadu, Joe Rodon, Williams – were a booking away from missing the last group game. Both James and Ampadu were booked in situations that may damage Wales.

Their opponents, ranked near the bottom in world football, had failed to score in their six qualifying defeats and let in twenty-three times at an average of nearly four per fixture.

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

Their opponent's target was rarely tested until the forward's chasing down caused a mistake and James saw his shot from the penalty area parried by the goalkeeper.

That pairing created another chance, Jordan picking out his teammate now with a accurate ball behind the defence.

Broadhead’s excellent first touch beat Büchel but the forward could not convert from a tight angle.

Wales thought they had broken the deadlock after the opening period when James headed a lofted Sorba Thomas corner back into a packed goal area.

Büchel was flustered by Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch reached Nathan Broadhead who drove home emphatically. But Welsh celebrations were cut short when the official was directed to the VAR screen and determined that one or more of the Welsh central defenders was in an offside position from James’s header.

Wales raised the tempo after the interval and Thomas sent in a ball to the opposite side which James struck the crossbar.

Williams then missed with a header from within the goal area as it started to seem like a difficult match for Wales.

Yet, with the game having entered its second half, Williams executed a shrewd pass for his teammate to break behind the home defence.

Daniel James beat Büchel with a delightful cross into the danger area, and his namesake Jordan James had the straightforward opportunity of easing Wales' tension.