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Wales secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory against international minnows Liechtenstein to maintain their aspirations of World Cup progress.

Wales' James scored his debut international strike for Wales from inside the box after Liechtenstein’s group of full-time players, office workers and students had resisted for the majority of the match. James ran off in elation with his obvious relief echoed by the large contingent of Wales supporters packed into three sides of the venue in Vaduz.

Soon afterwards, though, Jordan James was cautioned and a further yellow for Ethan Ampadu ensured the pair are ruled out for Tuesday’s crunch tie with their next opponents through disciplinary issues.

That home venue match is a game Wales need to win to move above their rivals and secure a more favourable position in the qualifying playoffs in next spring.

Craig Bellamy had an different vantage point from the sidelines, the head coach undertaking a sideline suspension after picking up a additional booking in the competition previously.

The manager's deputy Piet Cremers stood in in the dugout and multiple first-teamers – James, Ethan Ampadu, Rodon, Neco Williams – were a booking away from sitting out the concluding match. Two of them received cautions in moments that could really hurt their team.

The home side, ranked among the lowest-ranked in global rankings, had failed to score in their six qualifying defeats and conceded 23 times at an rate of almost four per fixture.

The visitors unsurprisingly controlled the ball as Liechtenstein adopted a low defensive block and defended in numbers.

The home goal saw little action until Broadhead high press forced an error and Jordan James saw his shot from the edge of the box parried by Büchel.

The same combination crafted an opportunity, Jordan finding his teammate this time with a well-weighted pass into space.

The attacker's superb control took him past Büchel but the forward failed to finish from a tight angle.

Wales thought they had broken the deadlock after the first half when James nodded a high Thomas corner back into a packed goal area.

Büchel was harassed by Dylan Lawlor and Joe Rodon, and his weak punch landed with Broadhead who scored decisively. But Welsh celebrations were cut short when the referee was instructed to the pitchside monitor and determined that one or more of the Wales centre-halves was in an offside from James’s header.

Wales increased the pressure after the break and Sorba Thomas provided a cross to the opposite side which James hit the frame of the goal.

Williams then missed with a header from within the goal area as it started to seem like one of those nights for the Welsh side.

But, with the contest having reached its final half-hour, Neco Williams executed a clever assist for his teammate to run past the Liechtenstein defenders.

James beat the goalkeeper with a superb pass across the face of goal, and his teammate Jordan had the straightforward opportunity of relieving Wales' anxiety.