Wales captain Gareth Bale cut a frustrated figure against the United States for most of his country’s first World Cup game since 1958, barely touching the ball early on let alone making the sort of inspirational impact the fans have come to expect.

Yet, once again, when the going got tough at 1-0 down in the dying minutes, Wales’ 33-year-old all-time top scorer came to the rescue, using all his drive and experience to win a penalty against a tiring defence and then converting it brilliantly.

“He’s never let us down, has he?” said coach Robert Page. The sentiment was shared by Wales’ 3 million population, not least the raucous “Red Wall” who chanted his name and celebrated the reprieve as if they had won.

Page deserves credit for Wales’ second-half transformation.

By bringing on towering striker Kieffer Moore for the diminutive and ineffective Dan James, he provided a much-needed focus for the Welsh attacks that changed the balance of play after the youthful US had dominated the first half.

That switch also took the pressure off Bale, freeing him up to find more space to get into the box as he did when he was sliced down by Walker Zimmerman’s sliding tackle for his 82nd-minute penalty.

It was Bale’s 41st goal for his beloved homeland.

He never made a secret of his greater passion for Wales than for Real Madrid despite winning five Champions League titles, including scoring with a spectacular overhead kick in the 2018 final against Liverpool.

Once he held a flag with the cheeky message: “Wales, Golf, Madrid - in that order”.

Wales are at a World Cup for the first time since 1958 when a then little-known 17-year-old Brazilian called Pele scored to knock them out in the quarter-finals.

Their self-belief was high after they reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals and the Euro 2020 last 16. So it was a shock in the first half when the US overran them.

Christian Pulisic, 24, tormented the Welsh defence and put through a beautiful pass for Timothy Weah — the 22-year-old son of former World Player of the Year and current Liberia President George Weah — to open the scoring for the US.

Their zestful midfield trio of Yunus Musah, 19, Weston McKennie, 24, and Tyler Adams, 23 — the youngest captain at the World Cup — stifled Wales for 45 minutes and prevented playmakers Bale and Aaron Ramsey from working their magic.

But, as so often, Bale was to change all that in the blink of an eye.