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Wales went top of their World Cup qualifying group with a hard-fought 1-0 win in Kazakhstan.
Kieffer Moore marked the occasion of his 50th cap with a 24th-minute strike from close range.
It was Moore’s 15th international goal and drew him level with the great John Charles.
Wales entered the Group J contest ranked 83 places higher than Kazakhstan in the FIFA world rankings, whose position of 114th casts them among the minnows of European football.
But Kazakhstan caused plenty of problems and their energetic second-half performance – when they hit the crossbar twice – merited a point.
Over 1,100 Wales fans had made the 3,000-mile trip to Central Asia across six time zones for the furthest Wales had ever travelled for a competitive game.
As well as the logistical challenges of that journey, Wales were also faced with an artificial playing surface at the Astana Arena, something manager Craig Bellamy had admitted he was “not a fan of”.
Joe Rodon’s late withdrawal through injury gave Bellamy a dilemma that he resolved by handing Dylan Lawlor his debut.
The 19-year-old centre-back made his Cardiff debut six months ago and collected his first Wales cap after only eight starts for his club.
Bellamy made five changes from the side beaten 4-3 by Belgium in their last World Cup qualifier in June, with Josh Sheehan, Liam Cullen and Neco Williams recalled.
Moore returned to lead the attack and become the first Wrexham player to represent for Wales since 2008. Moore and Chris Mepham both won their 50th caps.
Wales dominated possession and had early half-chances for Brennan Johnson and Sheehan as Galymzhan Kenzhebek fired straight at Karl Darlow at the other end.
Kazakhstan survived some pinball inside their six-yard box as Lawlor almost had a fairytale start, but Wales struck from their very next attack.
Cullen met Harry Wilson’s free-kick to force a save from Temirlan Anarbekov and Moore slotted the rebound home from seven yards.
Wales were fortunate after Williams appeared to be fouled, but the Spanish referee allowed play to continue and Kenzhebek curled a shot inches wide of the far post.
Kenzhebek went even closer after Wales made a sloppy start to the second half.
Williams’ casual flick failed to cut out a cross directed towards him and Kenzhebek’s 25-yard effort was touched on to the crossbar by Darlow.
Wales escaped again after Kenzhebek drifted inside past several defenders and just missed the target.
Bellamy turned to his bench to try to regain control, sending on Daniel James and Mark Harris for Johnson and Moore, but Darlow was required again to make a fine stop from Maksim Samorodov.
Wilson and Jordan James were foiled by Anarbekov in the closing stages.
But Wales only secured the three points after Serikzhan Muzhikov’s free-kick struck the crossbar from the game’s last action, taking them above North Macedonia at the top of the group.
