In Group B, there was nothing to choose between last year's World Cup finalists Italy and France as they played out a 0-0 stalemate in Milan.

Arsenal striker Eduardo da Silva scored both goals (39 and 46) as Croatia defeated Estonia 2-0.

Guus Hiddink's Russia were 3-0 winners over Macedonia, with Vasili Berezutsky opening the scoring in the eighth minute before late goals from Andrei Arshavin (84) and Alexander Kerzhakov (88).

England had earlier closed the gap with a 3-0 win over Israel at Wembley courtesy of goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips (20), Michael Owen (49) and Micah Richards (66).

An 89th-minute goal from David Siradze earned Georgia a 1-1 draw with Ukraine following Oleg Shelaiev's ninth-minute opener.

Scotland had earlier beaten Lithuania 3-1 in Glasgow to finish the day one point behind Group B leaders France.

The visitors looked set for a point after Tomas Danilevicius cancelled out Kris Boyd's opener with a dubious penalty but Scotland hit back through Stephen McManus (77) and James McFadden (83).

Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky (33) scored the Czech Republic's first as they claimed a 3-0 win over San Marino in Group D.

Marek Jankulovski (75) added a second before Jan Koller completed a routine victory in injury time.

The result puts added pressure on the Republic of Ireland, who face the Czechs in Prague on Wednesday, after Marek Cech's injury-time equaliser in the 2-2 draw with Slovakia.

Steve Staunton's side looked set for victory thanks to Kevin Doyle's strike (57) after

Maros Klimpl (37) had cancelled out Stephen Ireland's seventh-minute opener.

Germany remain on top of the group after they eased to a 2-0 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium courtesy of Miroslav Klose's fifth and 60th-minute strikes.

In Group F, Andres Iniesta rescued a point for Spain with a late goal to earn a 1-1 draw with Iceland.

Emil Hallfredsson had given the home side a 40th-minute lead but the Barcelona midfielder netted four minutes from the final whistle to send Spain level on points with Northern Ireland.

Nigel Worthington's qualification hopes were dealt a blow after Chris Baird's own goal gave Latvia a 1-0 win, while Sweden still lead the group following their 0-0 draw with Denmark.

Norway kept up the pressure on European champions and Group C leaders Greece with a 1-0 victory against Moldova.

Former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen scored the decisive goal after 49 minutes in what proved a tricky away test for Age Hareide's side.

Turkey twice had to come from behind as they secured a 2-2 draw against Malta.

Brian Said gave the home side the lead four minutes before the break but his effort was canceled out on the stroke of half-time by Halin Altintop.

Andre Schembri restored the advantage after 76 minutes but Turkey hit back again, Servet Cetin salvaging what could prove a crucial point just two minutes later.

At the Ferenc Puskas Stadium, West Brom's Zoltan Gera scored from the spot as Hungary claimed a 1-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In Group G, Real Madrid pair Wesley Sneijder (23) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (58) were on target as Holland ran out 2-0 winners against Bulgaria.

Former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu was on target twice as Romania picked up a 3-1 win in Belarus, while Slovenia were 3-0 winners over bottom side Luxembourg.

Jacek Krzynowek's 88th-minute strike kept Group A leaders Poland on course for Austria and Switzerland as they claimed a 2-2 against Portugal.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo's 73rd-minute strike had looked enough for the three points after Maniche (50) had earlier canceled out Mariusz Lewandowski's 44th-minute opener.

Serbia's clash with Finland ended goalless.

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