Scotland's hopes of reaching Euro 2008 were dented on Wednesday when they were well beaten 2-0 by an inexperienced Georgia side at the Boris Paichadze national stadium in Tbilisi.

Goals either side of half time from 17-year-old Levan Mchedlidze and David Siradze were enough to hand the Scots their third defeat of the qualification campaign so far and knock them off their perch at the top of Group B, after France recorded a 2-0 win over Lithuania later in the day.

Despite the defeat, Scotland's fate still lies in their own hands; a win against world champions Italy at Hampden Park next month will still be enough to book their place in Austria and Switzerland.

France had Thierry Henry to thank for their win, the Barcelona ace netting twice late on to finally break down a stubborn Lithuania side. The brace sent Henry clear as France's all-time top scorer, two ahead of the legendary Michel Henry.

In Georgia, Scotland have been in scintillating form during their qualification campaign so far, but there has always been a niggling suspicion that Alex McLeish's side have been punching above their weight.

Their performance here, against a team boasting three teenagers - one of whom only turns 17 the day after the match - proved just that.

The hosts did most of the early running and deserved to take a 16th minute lead through Mchedlidze. The teenager rose all too easily ahead of David Weir at the near post to nod home from a corner kick.

The youngster - who plays in the youth ranks at Serie A club Empoli - looked big and strong, and proved to be a nuisance to the Scottish defence all night long; he came close to a second on 36 minutes when his effort from 25 yards forced Craig Gordon into action.

Georgia doubled their lead in the 64th minute, Siradze coolly converting David Kvirkvelia's cross after he had easily beaten Graeme Murty to the byline.

The second goal sealed Scotland's fate on the night, although things could have panned out differently had they not had a penalty shout turned down in the first half.

Scotland felt aggrieved they were denied a chance to level from the spot at 1-0, but James McFadden's claims for a penalty following contact with Blackburn defender Zurab Khizanishvili in the box were waved away by German referee Knut Kircher.

For Scotland, Everton striker McFadden looked most likely to find the back of the net, but all too often, Alex McLeish's side failed to test another of Georgia's youngsters - goalkeeper Giorgi Makaridze, who is yet to make his debut for club Dinamo Tbilisi.

McFadden could have opened the scoring for the visitors in the eighth minute, only to turn Kenny Miller's near post cross into the side netting when hitting the target was a real possibility.

Stephen McManus then saw a towering header fly over the bar before McFadden again threatened, this time from distance, with a dipping half-volley that landed on the top of Makaridze's net.

Craig Gordon in the Scotland goal was hardly overstretched throughout the game, but the Sunderland keeper did have to be at this best to reach a Kvirkvelia free kick just after the hour mark.

Scotland threw on Craig Beattie after the second went in, but the Celtic man could not convert first a far post header and then a free kick at time ran out.

McFadden continued to harry the hosts' defence; his 82nd minute turn and shot proving to be the closest Scotland came to getting one back.

But Makaridze got well behind it and Scotland must now bounce back and summon a heroic performance against Italy if they are to reach next summer's finals.

France 2-0 Lithuania

Thierry Henry's brace made him France's outright all-time top goalscorer as Les Bleus went top of Group B with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Lithuania in Nantes.

Henry left it late to make his mark on the game, but goals in the 79th and 81st minutes sealed all three points for Les Bleus and took the Barcelona marksman's international tally to 43 - two ahead of the great Michel Platini.

An electric opening to the game saw the woodwork rattled on three occasions within the first 18 minutes.

First, Bayern Munich midfielder Franck Ribery - excellent throughout - unleashed a powerful effort which goalkeeper Zydrunas Karcemarskas did well to tip onto the bar in just the second minute.

Then, Florent Malouda's thunderbolt cannoned off the underside of the bar before at the other end Hearts midfielder Audrius Ksanavicius was denied a superb curled effort by the post.

Les Bleus' went on to dominate possession for large parts of the game but repeatedly failed to convert the chances they made. A point blank William Gallas header was somehow kept out by Karcemarskas on 22 minutes and Karim Benzema - a certain star of the future - flashed an effort across the face of goal before the half time whistle blew.

France had two penalty shouts turned down - Ribery's the more obvious than Henry's - before Henry came to the rescue with little over ten minutes remaining. That he claimed the first was dubious - the ball took a substantial deflection off Ribery's hand on its way into the net - but to avoid any doubt he burst on to Jeremey Touloulan's through pass two minutes later to finish coolly into the bottom corner.

Lithuania's stiff resistance promptly wilted, and Benzema could have made it three in the 83rd minute, but the Lyon striker delayed shooting for too long and his eventual effort was blocked.

Henry then nearly completed a hat-trick with two minutes remaining, only to be foiled by Karcemarskas, but the result was already in the bag, and the night was his already.

Ukraine 5-0 Faroe Islands

Earlier, Ukraine breezed to a consolation 5-0 victory against the Faroe Islands.

Both sides were already out of the running for Euro 2008 but Ukraine coach Oleg Blokhin said he thought his team should have scored more.

"I think that taking into account our performance, we should have scored more than five goals. The most important thing is that our players were willing to show their best and proved that we are still a team," he said.

Dynamo Kiev's Oleg Gusev and Spartak Moscow's Maksym Kalynychenko both scored twice and Andriy Vorobey, replacing Gusev, sealed the victory by smashing a cross from Andriy Nesmachny into the back of the net in the 64th minute.

Mike Hytner / Reuters