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The Welsh side earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory against underdogs Liechtenstein to maintain their hopes of World Cup qualifying.

The young midfielder claimed his first international strike for the national team from inside the box after the home side's mix of full-time players, office workers and students had resisted for over an hour. James ran off in elation with his obvious relief mirrored by the three thousand Wales followers occupying three sides of the stadium in Vaduz.

Moments later, though, Jordan James was booked and another booking for Ethan Ampadu resulted in the two players are unavailable for the upcoming crucial match with their next opponents due to accumulated bookings.

That Wales' ground contest is a clash Wales need to win to overtake their rivals and guarantee a improved position in the final round in March.

Craig Bellamy had an unfamiliar view from the sidelines, the Wales manager completing a touchline ban after receiving a second yellow card in the tournament last month.

The manager's deputy Piet Cremers took his place in the coaching zone and four of Wales’s starters – James, Ethan Ampadu, Rodon, Neco Williams – were at risk of suspension from missing the concluding match. A pair received cautions in situations that might hamper their team.

Liechtenstein, placed 206 out of 210 teams in global rankings, had been goalless in their previous six losses and conceded twenty-three goals at an rate of around four per fixture.

Wales as expected had most of the play as Liechtenstein lay in a low defensive block and defended in numbers.

Their opponent's target was rarely tested until Broadhead chasing down forced an error and Jordan James saw his effort from the edge of the box saved by the goalkeeper.

A similar move crafted an opportunity, James locating his teammate this time with a accurate pass over the top.

The attacker's superb first touch took him past the keeper but the Wrexham striker could not convert from a difficult angle.

Wales thought they had broken the deadlock after the first half when James headed a high Sorba Thomas set-piece back into a packed penalty box.

Büchel was harassed by Dylan Lawlor and Joe Rodon, and his feeble attempt reached Broadhead who scored decisively. But Welsh elation were cut short when the official was sent to the VAR screen and decided that a player of the Wales centre-halves was in an illegal position from James’s header.

Wales stepped up a gear after the break and Sorba Thomas provided a ball to the back post which the winger rattled against the crossbar.

Neco Williams then headed wide from inside the six-yard box as it started to seem like one of those nights for Wales.

But, with the contest having ticked into its final half-hour, Neco Williams delivered a clever assist for his teammate to break behind the opposition backline.

James beat Büchel with a excellent cross across the face of goal, and his namesake Jordan had the easy task of easing Wales' anxiety.