Wales’ 1–0 win over Liechtenstein kept their World Cup qualifying hopes alive, but the team’s stuttering performance was overshadowed by Ampadu’s anger at the yellow card that now rules him out of Tuesday’s decisive showdown with North Macedonia.
The Leeds United midfielder, deputising as skipper in the absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies, was cautioned four minutes from time for a challenge on substitute Severin Schlegel—an incident he remains adamant was wrongly judged.
With goalscorer Jordan James also ruled out of Tuesday night’s showdown at the Cardiff City Stadium, after he, too, picked up a caution against the part-timers, Wales paid a heavy price for their unconvincing victory.
It all means no Davies, Ampadu, James or injured Kieffer Moore for a game Wales have to win to clinch second-place in their group - and a home play-off tie - at a time when the energy and impetus seems to be leaking from their campaign.
“I am gutted. If it was a challenge that was a bit reckless or silly I would be frustrated with myself,” said Ampadu.
“It’s annoying because I don’t think it was a yellow. I don’t think I touched the guy and I won the ball.
“To miss the opportunity to represent your country is always hard and I’m really disappointed with that.”
Ethan Ampadu. Pic: Alamy
Wales’ night should have been routine. Their opponents sit 206th in the world and have yet to take a point or score a goal in this qualifying campaign.
Yet a laboured Welsh display left them hanging on to a slender lead provided only when Jordan James prodded home after 61 minutes.
It was James’ first international goal, a rare moment of polish in a game where Wales rarely sparkled.
Assistant manager Piet Cremers, speaking in place of the banned from the touchline Craig Bellamy, admitted the overriding objective was simply to get the job done.
“We knew we had to take care of today,” he said. “We did that and now our focus goes to North Macedonia.”
But Cremers also stressed the difficulty Wales created for themselves.
“This is a type of game where everyone expects you to win 5-0, 6-0, 7-0, but when you come to these places it can be a difficult game.”
Wales dominated possession but lacked incision, repeatedly forcing attacks and failing to make clear chances count.
Nathan Broadhead saw an early effort ruled out by VAR, while Liechtenstein’s patchwork squad of professionals, office workers and students frustrated Wales with stubborn organisation.
James acknowledged the struggle too, even as he celebrated his milestone.
“I’ve been waiting for it… I work on getting in the box and in the right spaces and I was able to do that,” he said, before admitting his own booking—also his second of the campaign—was costly.
“It’s disappointing to get booked… They were on the counter-attack and I had to stop it.”
Ampadu, meanwhile, insisted Wales had entered the match expecting far more control than they ultimately produced.
“Our focus before the game was we were expecting to be the team who were dominant with the ball,” he said.
“You’d like to score more goals but we got the win… We had to be patient. We had a lot of the ball and a lot of chances.”
Craig Bellamy. Pic: Alamy
But his frustration was clear in every line. The timing of his suspension could not be worse: Wales must defeat North Macedonia in Cardiff to secure a home semi-final in the March play-offs, avoiding a daunting away tie against a top seed.
Now, Bellamy must rebuild his midfield without his two first-choice central players.
Cremers acknowledged the challenge ahead. “It’s never nice to lose players through suspension or an injury… You have to deal with it and we’ve got a really good squad.”
Still, Wales’ struggle to overcome one of Europe’s weakest sides casts a shadow over the decisive clash to come.
Even Cremers admitted Wales were “forcing things” and missing “that bit of detail” in the final third.
For Ampadu, though, the unfairness of his yellow card remains the rawest part of the night.
A narrow win may have kept Wales’ campaign alive, but his absence on Tuesday looms large—an unnecessary blow, he believes, and one born of a decision he insists was simply wrong.
