Wales laboured to a 1-0 win over international minnows Liechtenstein to keep alive their hopes of World Cup qualification.
Jordan James claimed his first Wales goal from close range after Liechtenstein’s assorted collection of full-time players, office workers and students had held out for over an hour.
James wheeled away in delight with his obvious relief shared by 3,000 Wales fans filling three sides of the Rheinpark Stadion in Vaduz.
Moments later, however, James was booked and another late caution for Ethan Ampadu sees both midfielders ruled out of Tuesday’s crunch tie with North Macedonia through suspension.
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That Cardiff City Stadium contest is a game Wales must win to overtake North Macedonia and secure a more favourable draw in the play-offs in March.
Wales predictably dominated possession as Liechtenstein lay in a low defensive block and got bodies behind the ball.
Wales thought they had broken the deadlock after 26 minutes when James headed a deep Sorba Thomas corner back into a congested six-yard box.
Buchel was flustered under pressure from Dylan Lawlor and Rodon, and his weak punch fell to Broadhead who drove home emphatically.
But Welsh celebrations were curtailed when Albanian referee Juxhin Xhaja was sent to the pitchside monitor and decided that at least one of the Wales centre-halves was in an offside position from James’ header.
Wales raised the tempo after the break and Thomas delivered a cross to the far post which Daniel James rattled against the woodwork.
Williams then headed wide from inside the six-yard box as it began to look like one of those nights for Wales.
But, with the contest having ticked into its 61st minute, Williams played a clever pass for Daniel James to break behind the home defence.
James cut out Buchel with a delightful ball across the face of goal, and his namesake Jordan had the straightforward task of ending Welsh anxiety.
Kazakhstan goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov made a series of stunning saves to deny Belgium the opportunity to clinch World Cup qualification as they drew 1-1 in their Group J clash at the Astana Arena on Saturday.
Belgium are still heavily fancied to win the group and book a berth at next year’s tournament when they finish their qualifying campaign at home to Liechtenstein on Tuesday.
The draw left them two points clear of second-placed North Macedonia.
In-form striker Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain thrashed Georgia 4-0 away on Saturday to set a national record and all but guarantee their place in next year’s World Cup finals.
Spain’s romp in Tbilisi, in which Martin Zubimendi and Ferran Torres also scored, put them on a maximum 15 points from five Group E games with 19 goals scored and none conceded.
Second-placed Turkey, who beat Bulgaria 2-0 on Saturday, would have to beat Spain 7-0 in Seville on Tuesday to finish as group winners and take the automatic qualification spot. Turkey sealed their place in playoffs by beating Bulgaria
