Wales 1-0 Latvia: Kieffer Moore’s first-half shot gives hosts a narrow victory

With tears in his eyes, Gareth Bale said goodbye to a grateful stadium on Tuesday evening. With a cautious stride, Wales continued to progress into the scary new era without him.

It was not a convincing win, nor was it of limited value for major judgments, given Latvia’s ranking of 133rd in the world. But for now, the Welsh are dealing with the retirement of their biggest star by making solid progress in Group D.

Kieffer Moore’s header shortly before half-time was enough and adding a win to the more striking performance of a draw in Croatia saw Wales’ four points exceed most expectations for this stage of their qualifying push.

How well they will do during the campaign remains to be seen. And so is their adeptness at breaking through entrenched defenses, now that their commander-in-chief has departed.

On this occasion it was a struggle. Rob Page’s side had about 75 per cent of possession and only had one decent chance in each half, but they too often lacked the ingenuity to squeeze through the gaps in Latvia’s back-line.

The Welshman rose highest, converting Dan James’ cross in the 41st minute with a ball header

Gareth Bale gave an emotional speech to Wales fans ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifier

When they did it was promising, particularly when Harry Wilson crashed an early volley against Pavels Steinbors’ shins, and again when Aaron Ramsey drove a nice ball to Moore at the back post.

Unlike Moore’s winner a short time later, the header was poor.

There was also a curling iron from Neco Williams early in the second half pushed onto the crossbar by Steinbors, but overall it was a night where the result outweighed the performance, especially in terms of Wales’ creativity.

Page was excited. Referring to Bale’s pre-match greeting and address to the crowd, he said: “Gareth was with us last night and had dinner with us.

“Maybe he played a round of golf today and saw the boys before the game. We all know what he thinks of the nation and that moment was special to him.’

Of the match, Page added: “We were hoping for four points out of two and the minimum we expected was three, no disrespect to them. A point in Croatia and a win was done.

“We would have liked to see more goals, but keeping a clean sheet and winning 1-0 is good.”

For Wales, the next step is Armenia and another chance at post-Bale momentum for the more reliable barometer of a clash with Turkey.

Bale took the field at Cardiff City Stadium to bid farewell to the national team fans

Due to the narrow victory, Wales takes a leading position in the group, level with Croatia