Wales kept their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup alive with a 1-0 victory over world-class powerhouse Liechtenstein.
Jordan James scored Wales’ first goal from close range after Liechtenstein’s diverse team of full-time players, office workers and students hung on for more than an hour.
James ran away jubilant with the palpable sense of relief he shared with the 3,000 Wales fans who filled the three sides of Vaduz’s Rheinpark Stadion.
But shortly after that, James was booked and a further late booking for Ethan Ampadu meant both midfielders will miss Tuesday’s tense game against North Macedonia through suspension.
The contest for Cardiff City Stadium is a must-win game for Wales to defeat North Macedonia and secure a more favorable draw in March’s play-offs.
Jordan James celebrates with Solva Thomas
Craig Bellamy was an unfamiliar sight from the stands as the Wales manager was suspended from the touchline after picking up a second yellow card in last month’s competition.
Bellamy’s assistant Pete Kremers was substituted in the technical area, and four of Wales’ starters – James, Ampadu and Joe Rodon Neco Williams – came close to missing out on a place in the final round.
Two of them were not involved in incidents that could have caused significant damage to Wales.
Leeds midfielder Ampadu captained his national team for the second time in the absence of injured pair Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies.
Wales must beat North Macedonia to finish Group J in second place
Liechtenstein, who are ranked 206th out of 210 teams in world football, have not scored in six of their qualifying losses, conceding 23 goals, an average of nearly four goals per game.
As expected, Wales dominated possession, with Liechtenstein occupying a low defensive block and huddled behind the ball.
The home goal wasn’t threatened until Benjamin Buchel pushed away James’ shot from the edge of the box following a mistake in Nathan Broadhead’s press.
The same combination worked on the next opening, this time with James finding Broadhead with an accurate ball over the top.
A nice touch from Broadhead put him past Buchel, but the Wrexham striker couldn’t convert from an angle.
Wales thought they had broken the deadlock in the 26th minute when James headed home from Solva Thomas’ deep corner into a crowded six-yard box.
Buchel floundered under pressure from Dylan Lawler and Rodon, and weak punches fell on Broadhead, who sent them home forcefully.
However, Wales’ celebrations were curtailed when Albanian referee Jusin Djaja was sent to the pitchside monitor and ruled that at least one of Wales’ centre-halves was in an offside position on James’s header.
With Liechtenstein unshackled, Emmanuel Zundt fired a shot from distance, but Buchel reacted well to deny Mark Harris and James.
Wales upped the tempo after the break, with Thomas whipping in a cross at the far post, which Daniel James smashed into the woodwork.
Williams headed wide from inside the six-yard box and it was starting to look like that kind of night for Wales.
However, with the game reaching its 61st minute, Williams played a deft pass to Daniel James who found the back of the home defence.
James beat Buchel with a superb ball across the face of goal, and his namesake Jordan had the simple task of easing Wales’ fears.
“The focus shifts to North Macedonia.”
Wales assistant manager Pete Cremers:
“I knew I had to take care of today.
“We have done that and are now focusing on North Macedonia.
“It’s going to be another difficult game in Cardiff, but we’re playing at home and there’s a lot of fans coming, so we’ll want to turn that into a positive result.
“This is the type of game where everyone expects to win 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, but when you come to a place like this it can be a tough game.
“We’ve seen it with teams we’ve played here before, such as Belgium, who struggled to score in the first half.
“It’s a very well-organized team that tries to keep the spaces small and limit chances.
“We had some good moments to score the second goal. If we don’t score the second or third goal, it gets trickier. The players start to push themselves a little bit more.”
“There were moments in the final third where we lacked the details to create chances and convert them into shots on goal.”
