Spain left it late to open its 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory over Georgia on Tuesday, capping an unconvincing night for Europe's major powers.
While England needed an 87th-minute penalty by Frank Lampard to salvage a 1-1 draw with Ukraine at Wembley Stadium, Germany, Portugal and Italy all failed to impress despite securing victories in the second round of qualifiers.
Germany held on to beat neighbour Austria 2-1, with Mesut Oezil's 52nd-minute penalty proving the difference, while Portugal needed three goals in the final 27 minutes to see off Azerbaijan 3-0 and Italy only edged past lowly ranked Malta 2-0.
Spain, the reigning world and European champion, looked as if its run of 22 straight victories in qualifying - dating back to 2007 - would come to an end against a heavily defensive Georgia until Cesc Fabregas crossed for Roberto Soldado to turn the ball in from close range in the 86th minute.
"It was a hard-fought win against a rival that gave us the ball but pulled back into its area," said Soldado, who was given a rare start up front ahead of Fernando Torres and the fit-again David Villa. "It was bewildering."
Spain, which in 2014 will be seeking an unprecedented fourth straight major title, wasn't in qualifying action on Friday - it beat Saudi Arabia 5-0 in a friendly instead - allowing France to take the early lead in Group I.
After beating Finland 1-0 on Friday, Didier Deschamps' side followed up with a 3-1 win at home to Belarus.
Franck Ribery finished off the scoring with a welltaken strike and helped create the other two - scored by Etienne Capoue and Christophe Jallet for their first international goals - in Saint-Denis.
"It was important for us to win tonight," Ribery said, thinking ahead to France's next qualifier - away to Spain.
Lampard's 26th international goal came from the penalty spot after Yevhen Khacheridi handled the ball, making it three goals in five days for the Chelsea midfielder following his brace in England's 5-0 thrashing of Moldova on Friday.
Ukraine had taken the lead through Yevhen Konoplianka's stunning first-half opener and was unable to mount a late charge for victory despite England - missing the injured Wayne Rooney, John Terry and Ashley Cole - finishing the match with 10 men after Steven Gerrard's sendingoff for a second booking in the 88th.
"These games are not easy and in the end getting a point is a good result considering we were 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go," Lampard said.
After four straight losses before qualifying began, the Netherlands continued its revival by easing past Hungary 4-1 through goals by Jeremain Lens (two), Bruno Martens and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
The Dutch beat Turkey 2-0 on Friday and are level on six points with Romania in Group D.
