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France crashed to a 3-1 defeat in Austria in Group 7 as most European sides kicked off their World Cup campaigns.

To read full reports about what happened in the groups involving the home nations click on the relevant links below the picture.

Group 1

Portugal got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a classy start with a 4-0 victory in Malta.

Second-half strikes from Hugo Almeida, Simao Sabrosa and Nani rubber-stamped a first competitive win for coach Carlos Queiroz after Malta defender Brian Said had scored an own goal to give Portugal a 1-0 halftime lead.

Albania held Sweden to a 0-0 draw throwing numbers into defence and relying on some fine goalkeeping from Arjan Beqaj.

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic hit the post with a shot from outside the area in the 15th minute and Olaf Mellberg missed the best chance for the Swedes when he fired wide from close range.

Beqaj kept Armenia in the game, deflecting shots from Ibrahimovic, Kim Kallstrom and Daniel Majstorovic

Denmark earned a deserved 0-0 draw in Hungary to kick off their World Cup campaign.

Denmark enjoyed most possession in a combative match but failed to create many scoring chances.

In the more eventful first half, Denmark's lively Nicklas Bendtner came closest when his low shot from 20 metres hit the post after half an hour.

Hungary, coached by Dutch manager Erwin Koeman, almost snatched the lead two minutes before the interval but Szabolcs Huszti fired his shot straight at Stephan Andersen from close range.

Group 2

An injury-time goal from Ben Sahar earned Israel a 2-2 comeback draw with Switzerland.

Israel had an uphill battle after Hakan Yakin and Blaise Nkufo scored either side of halftime for Switzerland.

The Swiss took the lead in the last minute of the first half when Yakin hit a 25-metre free kick over the Israeli wall and the ball bounced in off the crossbar.

They consolidated their lead in the 56th minute when another Yakin free kick allowed Nkufo to head in from close range with the Israeli defence in disarray.

Yossi Benayoun reduced the arrears in the 73rd minute when he picked up a low cross from Sahar.

Sahar scored two minutes into added time, latching on to a cross from Moshe Ohayon.

Striker Theofanis Gekas scored a goal and won a penalty for Greece in a comfortable 3-0 victory over Luxembourg.

The visitors rounded off the Group Two win with an Angelos Charisteas penalty in the 77th minute after Vassilis Torosidis had opened the scoring in the 36th minute and Gekas had made it 2-0 at the end of the first half.

Other result

Moldova 1-2 Latvia 2

Scorers:

Moldova: Serghei Alexeev 76

Latvia: Girts Karlsons 8, Vitalijs Astafjevs 22

Halftime: 0-2

Group 5

David Villa earned European champions Spain a 1-0 victory over Bosnia in their opening qualifier.

The Valencia striker missed a first-half penalty but made amends early in the second half when he rounded the goalkeeper to score from Cesc Fabregas's pass.

Bosnia had made life difficult for the home side up to that point but were vulnerable once they had to chase the game and their hosts always looked more likely to add to the score.

The victory gave new Spain coach Vicente del Bosque a win on his competitive debut, having replaced Luis Aragones after the victorious Euro 2008 campaign.

Second-half goals from Tuncay Sanli and Semih Senturk gave Turkey a 2-0 winning start in Armenia in a match full of diplomatic significance.

The game was marked by the presence of Abdullah Gul making the first visit by a Turkish president to Armenia.

The countries have no diplomatic ties and their relationship is historically tense because of the killing of ethnic Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One.

Other result

Belgium 3-2 Estonia

Scorers:

Belgium: Wesley Sonck 39, 80, Steven Defour 74

Estonia: Sergei Zenjov 57, Andres Oper 93

Halftime: 1-0

Group 7

Austria started their qualifying campaign with a shock 3-1 victory over France.

Forward Marc Janko deflected a long-range free kick by captain Andreas Ivanschitz to open the scoring on eight minutes and midfielder Rene Aufhauser deflected another set piece by Ivanschitz to double the advantage shortly before the break.

France winger Sidney Govou reduced the arrears just after the hour, collecting a Patrice Evra cross with his back to the goal and turning around to score from six metres, but France could not escape their first defeat by Austria in 38 years.

Ivanschitz sealed Austria's first win over France since a 1-0 victory in 1970 from a penalty on 72 minutes after Janko had been brought down in the box by defender Philippe Mexes.

Unheralded Lithuania crushed an injury-hit Romania 3-0 for a shock away win.

Defender Marius Stankevicius opened the scoring for the visitors with a powerful 25-metre shot in the 31st minute.

Midfielder Saulius Mikoliunas added a second with a 17-metre effort midway through the second half.

Substitute Mindaugas Kalonas scored the third after a swift counter-attack four minutes from time.

Romania failed to create opportunities in the absence of injured striker Adrian Mutu, while defenders Cristian Chivu and Razvan Rat were also sorely missed.

Jon Roi Jacobsen's own goal in the first half and a late Nikola Zigic header gave Serbia a 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands.

The Serbians gave their new coach Radomir Antic a winning start despite a lacklustre performance.

Reuters