Andreas Ivanschitz scored one goal and set up two others as Austria opened their World Cup qualifying campaign with an impressive 3-1 Group Seven victory over France in Vienna.
The Panathinaikos playmaker swung in two devilish first-half free-kicks that were finished off first by Marc Janko in the eighth minute, and then by Rene Aufhauser just before the break.
France threatened a comeback when Sidney Govou rifled in from close range just after the hour mark, but Ivanschitz sounded the death knell for Raymond Domenech's side when he sidefooted home a 73rd-minute penalty following Philippe Mexes' clumsy foul on Janko.
Italy avoided such embarrassment, but not by much in Cyprus.
Antonio di Natale struck a last-gasp winner to help the defending world champions sink their hosts 2-1 in Larnaca in their opening match in Group Eight - the Republic of Ireland's group.
The Udinese striker put Marcello Lippi's team ahead in the eighth minute but the Cypriots restored parity on the half-hour mark through Stathis Aloneftis.
The hosts had numerous chances to grab a second but could not find a way past Gianluigi Buffon for a second time and paid the ultimate price in stoppage time when Di Natale struck again.
There was also late drama in Podgorica, where a late leveller by Bulgaria's Blagoi Georgiev earned his team a 2-2 draw against Montenegro.
The Montenegrins were embarking upon their first World Cup qualifying campaign as an independent nation after splitting with Serbia in 2006.
Mirko Vucinic struck his country's first goal on their competitive debut in international competition just after the hour mark, cancelling out Stiliyan Petrov's early opener.
Stevan Jovetic looked to have won it for the hosts nine minutes from time when he converted a penalty following an incident which saw Stanislav Angelov dismissed.
But Georgiev salvaged a dramatic 2-2 draw for Bulgaria with a stoppage-time equaliser.
In England's group, Croatia shook off speculation about the future of coach Slaven Bilic to beat Kazakhstan 3-0.
Goals from Niko Kovac, Luka Modric and substitute Mladen Petric did the trick for Croatia, who will now be full of confidence heading into Wednesday's clash with England.
Kovac made it 1-0 with a header after 13 minutes from Darijo Srna's cross, and Tottenham summer signing Modric doubled the lead with a fine strike after being set up by Ivan Klasnic 10 minutes before the break.
That was how it stayed until Hamburg forward Petric, who had only been on the pitch for 10 minutes after replacing Klasnic, rounded off the scoring in the 79th minute.
In the same group, Ukraine laboured to a last-gasp 1-0 win over neighbours Belarus in Lviv courtesy of a stoppage-time penalty from former Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko.
The visitors looked set to earn a creditable point from their short trip south, until Aleksandr Kulchiya handled in the box in the dying seconds and referee Nicola Rizzoli pointed to the spot.
Recent AC Milan signing Shevchenko made the most of the opportunity to deny Belarus a draw.
Germany eased into their Group Four campaign by hammering Liechtenstein 6-0 in Vaduz.
Lukas Podolski scored the only goal of a tight first half in the 21st minute, but when he netted again three minutes after the break the floodgates opened.
Simon Rolfes and Bastian Schweinsteiger struck in the space of two minutes, before Thomas Hitzlsperger added a fifth 15 minutes from time. Heiko Westermann completed the rout in the 86th minute.
Former Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz saw his Portugal side get their campaign off to a flying start with a 4-0 win over Malta in Group One.
Hugo Almeida, Simao Sabrosa and Nani added some shine to the scoreline in the final 30 minutes after Brian Said had put through his own net to give the visitors a first-half lead.
There were no other goals elsewhere in Group One, however, as Sweden could only manage a goalless draw in their game away to Albania.
Henrik Larsson winning his 100th cap for his country was the only highlight of a low-key affair, but the veteran former Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United forward was unable to inspire his team to an opening-day win.
Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic went closest to breaking the deadlock with a shot which struck the post in the 17th minute.
In the final game of the group Denmark also drew a blank in a 0-0 draw with Hungary.
Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner struck the post for the Danes in the first half.
Elsewhere, Slovenia frustrated hosts Poland to earn a precious 1-1 draw at the Slaski Stadium in Northern Ireland's World Cup qualifying group.
Zlatko Dedic's first-half strike cancelled out Michal Zewlakow's earlier opener as Slovenia came from behind to ensure both teams took a point from the Group Three clash.
Leo Beenhakker's Polish side were aiming for a win to banish memories of their poor display at Euro 2008 and Zewlakow's penalty after 17 minutes gave them the ideal start.
Bostjan Cesar fouled Jacek Krzynowek in the box and the Olympiacos defender converted the resulting spot-kick.
But Dedic pulled the visitors level 10 minutes before the interval after a well-worked move.
The Piacenza striker received a pass from Milivoje Novakovic and rifled a fierce shot past goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski to earn the visitors a deserved draw.
While Scotland suffered a disappointing defeat to Macedonia, their Group Nine rivals Norway and Iceland drew 2-2 in Oslo.
Former Tottenham and Wolves striker Steffen Iversen scored twice for hosts Norway who twice led before being pegged back.
The Rosenborg striker put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot in the 36th minute but the lead was shortlived as Bolton's Heidar Helguson equalised three minutes later.
Iversen scored his second five minutes after the restart but former Chelsea forward Eidur Gudjohnsen equalised again in the 69th minute to earn Iceland a share of the spoils.
In Group Five, David Villa saved his own blushes with a clinical second-half goal as European Champions Spain began their qualifying campaign with a narrow 1-0 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina in Murcia.
Villa made amends for a missed first-half penalty with a pinpoint finish just before the hour mark as Spain picked up a three-point haul in Vicente del Bosque's first competitive match in charge.
Spain, who are now unbeaten in 24 games, were full value for their win but did not find it easy to breakdown a well-organised Bosnia-Herzegovina defence.
However, they had few scares in the second half and although they were unable to add to their one-goal advantage, it was ultimately a fairly comfortable victory for Del Bosque's men who were without star strikers Fernando Torres and David Silva.
Turkey strolled to victory with a 2-0 win over neighbours Armenia, in a game which saw the first visit of a Turkish president to the country.
Armenia shot themselves in the foot when they allowed Tuncay Sanli to score from close range before a defensive mistake let in Semih Senturk 12 minutes from time.
Belgium and Estonia might be odds on to finish at the bottom of the pile but they played out a thrilling game which ended in a 3-2 victory for the Belgians.
Wesley Sonck put the hosts ahead five minutes from half-time before Sergei Zeniov equalised for Estonia, who have never reached a World Cup finals, 12 minutes after the break.
But Steven Defour restored Belgium's advantage in the 75th minute and Sonck's second of the game four minutes later all but secured the points for the hosts.
Andres Oper's last-minute effort for Estonia set up a tense finale but Belgium clung on to give them hope of making their first major finals since 2002.
In Group Two, Ottmar Hitzfeld's first competitive game in charge of Switzerland ended in a 2-2 draw after late strikes from Yossi Benayoun and Ben Sahar completed a remarkable comeback for hosts Israel.
Goals from Hakan Yakin and Blaise N'Kufo looked to have sealed victory for the Swiss but Benayoun gave Israel hope in the 73rd minute before substitute Sahar fired the equaliser in stoppage time.
Yakin opened the scoring in the 45th minute as the visitors looked for a win to banish the memories of a poor Euro 2008 campaign.
Sahar came close to finding an equaliser in the 50th minute, but he failed to convert Ben Cohen's searching through-ball.
Hitzfeld's men doubled their advantage in the 56th minute when Yakin's floated free-kick was met by N'Kufo who nodded past goalkeeper Dudu Aouate.
Israel pulled a goal back with 17 minutes remaining after Sahar's low cross fell to Benyaoun in the box and the Liverpool midfielder slotted home from close range.
The home side pushed for an equaliser and were rewarded in added time as Sahar converted Moshe Ohayon's cross to salvage a valuable draw.
Greece bounced back from their own Euro 2008 embarrassment to ease past minnows Luxembourg 3-0.
Goals from Vassilios Torosidis, Tehofanis Gekas and Angelos Charisteas completed a simple win from Otto Rehhagel's men at the Josy-Barthel Stadium.
Torosidis opened the scoring in the 36th minute when he headed home Charisteas' cross.
The Euro 2004 winners added to their advantage in the 45th minute when Gekas capitalised on a mistake by the Luxembourg defence, rounded goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert and rolled the ball into the empty net.
Rehhagel's men controlled the second half for long periods but only added to their tally with 15 minutes remaining.
Eric Hoffman brought down Gekas in the area and veteran Charisteas slotted home the spot-kick to complete a convincing win.
Latvia were the other victors in the group as early strikes from Girt Karlsons and Vitalijs Astafjevs gave them a 2-1 win over Moldova at the Sheriff Sports Complex.
Substitute Serghei Alexeev netted in the 76th minute to ensure a tense finish, but Aleksandrs Starkovs' men held on to record a valuable win.
The visitors opened the scoring in the eighth minute when De Graafschap striker Karlsons fired home from 10 yards.
Latvia dominated the early exchanges and Astafievs added the second after 22 minutes. The Skonto Riga midfielder headed past goalkeeper Nicolae Calancea from close range to double the visitors' advantage.
Moldova pulled a goal back when Alexeev scored with 14 minutes remaining, but despite laying siege to the Latvian goal, the home side were unable to find an equaliser.
Back in Group Seven, France's pool, Radomir Antic enjoyed a winning start to life as Serbia boss, but many will feel his new charges should have done better than a narrow 2-0 victory over the Faroe Islands.
The Faroes lost 5-0 in a friendly to Portugal last time out and Serbia were expected to score a hatful against the minnows.
However, their poor run of form which has seen them fail to win a game since November continued and an own goal by the unfortunate Jon Roi Jacobsen after half an hour was all that separated the sides until the dying minutes.
Jonas Tor Naes was sent off for the visitors in the 83rd minute and Serbia took advantage of the extra man to seal the victory two minutes from time thanks to Nikola Zigic.
Lithuania took advantage of Romania's injury problems to record a shock 3-0 win.
Sampdoria defender Marius Stankevicius put the Lithuanians ahead just after the half-hour mark before Hearts midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas doubled their tally in the 69th minute.
Mindaugas Kalonas added a third three minutes from time to further embarrass Romania.
