Wayne Rooney scored for England on his 100th appearance before Danny Welbeck's double secured a 3-1 victory over Slovenia in European Championship qualifying on Saturday.
As Roy Hodgson's Group E leaders made it four wins out of four, San Marino earned a landmark 0-0 draw against Estonia, ending a run of 61 consecutive losses for world football's lowest-ranked team.
The milestone match for Rooney at Wembley saw the England captain net his 44th international goal - canceling Jordan Henderson's own goal - to go five behind Bobby Charlton's record 49.
"It was tough because they took the lead and we had to show our character," Rooney said. "It was a great reaction from the players."
England surged six points clear of Slovenia, Switzerland and Lithuania. The Swiss beat visiting Lithuania 4-0, with winger Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice.
Before the game in London, Rooney collected his commemorative golden 100th cap from Charlton to cheers, but the atmosphere became subdued as England labored throughout the first half, looking disjointed.
The game came to life 10 minutes into the second half when England finally found the target, with Phil Jagielka's header saved by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
But at the other end, Henderson inadvertently flicked Milivoje Novakovic's free kick into his own goal when a headed clearance went wrong.
Just as quickly, the action was back in the Slovenia penalty area, with Rooneyearning the penalty following Bostjan Cesar's challenge and scoring from the spot.Rooney is England's joint-third highest goal-scorer alongside Jimmy Greaves.
England's fortunes had turned, and Welbeck punished Slovenia twice.
Adam Lallana cut in from the right and a deflected shot that was parried by Handanovic, but Miso Brecko's headed clearance went straight to Welbeck. His scuffed shot put England in front in the 65th.
It was a slicker build-up to Welbeck's second goal. Kieran Gibbs played in Welbeck, who played a neat one-two with Raheem Sterling before knocking the ball into the net in the 72nd.
England heads to Glasgow for a friendly against Scotland on Tuesday, although goalkeeper Joe Hart is being given time off, leaving Fraser Forster or Ben Foster competing for the starting spot.
Beaten by England and Slovenia to open the group, Switzerland has had back-to-back 4-0 wins against San Marino and now Lithuania.
All the goals came in the second half, with visiting goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis gifting the first in the 66th minute by fumbling a Shaqiri corner into his own net on a rainy night.
Defender Fabian Schaer finished neatly two minutes later after another Shqairi corner was not cleared, and the Swiss star scored with a header and flick from right-flank crosses in the 80th and 90th.
Group G
Austria beats Russia 1-0 in Euro 2016 qualifier
Substitute Rubin Okotie scored the winner for Austria in a 1-0 victory over Russia on Saturday, bringing his team a step closer to qualifying for a European Championship for the first time.
The win gave Austria a lead of five points over Russia at the top of Group G and four over Sweden, which was held to 1-1 by Montenegro.
Okotie, who replaced Marc Janko in the 59th minute, rounded off a counterattack set up by right winger Martin Harnik in the 73rd after he was left unmarked in front of Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
Referee Martin Atkinson ignored protests by Russian players who claimed Okotie was offside, and Russia coach Fabio Capello repeated the criticism afterward.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned to the national team after missing two qualifiers during his seven-week heel injury layoff, put Sweden ahead at Montenegro after scoring from short range in the ninth minute for his 51st goal in 101 internationals.
Montenegro captain Vladimir Jovetic leveled from the penalty spot in the 80th after he was brought down by Erkan Zengin.
In the other group game, Moldava lost 1-0 at home to Liechtenstein after defender Franz Burgmeier's goal in the 74th.
Austria remained unbeaten in nine straight matches since October 2013.
Austria has never qualified for a European Championship though it took part as a co-host with Switzerland in 2008.
The top two teams in each group and the best third-place team will qualify directly for the tournament in France, while all remaining third-place teams will advance to playoffs.
Less than a minute before he found the net, Okotie thought he scored. His shot from short range was saved by Akinfeev, though TV footage appeared to show the goalie grabbed the ball from behind the line.
The defeat left Russia with just one win from its last seven competitive matches and could put further pressure on Capello's position.
Capello has been in ongoing dispute with the Russian Football Untion, as he hasn't been paid since June, and the Italian said last month he was running out of patience.
The RFU admitted it can't afford his salary of an estimated $11 million a year, and it didn't extent contracts with Capello's long-term assistant coach, Christian Panucci, and fitness coach Massimo Neri, who were missing in Austria.
Group C
Spain beats Belarus 3-0, Slovakia keeps group lead
Francisco "Isco" Alarcon scored early to spark Spain's placid 3-0 win over Belarus in a European Championship qualifier on Saturday.
Slovakia's 2-0 victory at Macedonia kept it on top of Group C with 12 points, while Ukraine stayed level with Spain on nine points after Andriy Yarmolenko scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at Luxembourg.
With Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas injured, Isco made a strong argument to form part of coach Vicente del Bosque's remodeling project as Spain looks to defend its European title in 2016.
Isco curled in a long strike to open the scoring in the 18th minute. Sergio Busquets made it 2-0 a minute later, and Pedro Rodriguez scored in the 55th.
The match in hand, Del Bosque gave Jose Callejon and Alvaro Morata their international debuts as second-half substitutes.
"Isco! Isco" rang out at Nuevo Colombino Stadium when he was substituted, but Del Bosque said he, for one, was not overwhelmed by Isco's performance against a minor opponent, hinting that Iniesta and Cesc were still his first-choice playmakers.
"Isco played a good game but, like the rest, he got lost trying to be a virtuoso," Del Bosque said.
Spain's next match is a friendly against world champion Germany on Tuesday.
Macedonia was left with three points. Belarus and Luxembourg remained with one point each.
Isco's dribbling and passing evoked the incisiveness usually provided by Iniesta, as the Real Madrid midfielder took charge of Spain's attack from the start.
With Spain playing with the most verve since before its disappointing World Cup, Isco put the hosts on their way with a superb right-footed strike just inside the corner of the goal frame after fellow youngster Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion had recovered possession near Belarus' area.
Busquets quickly made it 2-0 when Juanfran Torres' pass was deflected for the Barcelona midfielder to fire in a low strike off a defender from outside the box.
Spain didn't miss striker Diego Costa either, with Pedro scoring moments after Juanfran worked a one-two passing combination with Santi Cazorla before setting up the forward to fire past goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov. Pedro hit the post in the 89th.
Andrey Zygmantovich made his debut as Belarus coach.
Slovakia went in front at Macedonia through Juraj Kucka in the 25th from a cross by Vladimir Weiss. Adam Nemec added a second goal in the 38th.
Yarmolenko gave Ukraine the lead in the 33rd. The Dinamo Kiev attacking midfielder curled another left-footed strike past Luxembourg goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert in the 53rd before adding a third goal three minutes later.
Wayne Rooney scored for England on his 100th appearance before Danny Welbeck's double secured a 3-1 victory over Slovenia in European Championship qualifying on Saturday.
As Roy Hodgson's Group E leaders made it four wins out of four, San Marino earned a landmark 0-0 draw against Estonia, ending a run of 61 consecutive losses for world football's lowest-ranked team.
The milestone match for Rooney at Wembley saw the England captain net his 44th international goal - canceling Jordan Henderson's own goal - to go five behind Bobby Charlton's record 49.
"It was tough because they took the lead and we had to show our character," Rooney said. "It was a great reaction from the players."
England surged six points clear of Slovenia, Switzerland and Lithuania. The Swiss beat visiting Lithuania 4-0, with winger Xherdan Shaqiri scoring twice.
Before the game in London, Rooney collected his commemorative golden 100th cap from Charlton to cheers, but the atmosphere became subdued as England labored throughout the first half, looking disjointed.
The game came to life 10 minutes into the second half when England finally found the target, with Phil Jagielka's header saved by goalkeeper Samir Handanovic.
But at the other end, Henderson inadvertently flicked Milivoje Novakovic's free kick into his own goal when a headed clearance went wrong.
Just as quickly, the action was back in the Slovenia penalty area, with Rooneyearning the penalty following Bostjan Cesar's challenge and scoring from the spot.Rooney is England's joint-third highest goal-scorer alongside Jimmy Greaves.
England's fortunes had turned, and Welbeck punished Slovenia twice.
Adam Lallana cut in from the right and a deflected shot that was parried by Handanovic, but Miso Brecko's headed clearance went straight to Welbeck. His scuffed shot put England in front in the 65th.
It was a slicker build-up to Welbeck's second goal. Kieran Gibbs played in Welbeck, who played a neat one-two with Raheem Sterling before knocking the ball into the net in the 72nd.
England heads to Glasgow for a friendly against Scotland on Tuesday, although goalkeeper Joe Hart is being given time off, leaving Fraser Forster or Ben Foster competing for the starting spot.
Beaten by England and Slovenia to open the group, Switzerland has had back-to-back 4-0 wins against San Marino and now Lithuania.
All the goals came in the second half, with visiting goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis gifting the first in the 66th minute by fumbling a Shaqiri corner into his own net on a rainy night.
Defender Fabian Schaer finished neatly two minutes later after another Shqairi corner was not cleared, and the Swiss star scored with a header and flick from right-flank crosses in the 80th and 90th.
Group G
Austria beats Russia 1-0 in Euro 2016 qualifier
Substitute Rubin Okotie scored the winner for Austria in a 1-0 victory over Russia on Saturday, bringing his team a step closer to qualifying for a European Championship for the first time.
The win gave Austria a lead of five points over Russia at the top of Group G and four over Sweden, which was held to 1-1 by Montenegro.
Okotie, who replaced Marc Janko in the 59th minute, rounded off a counterattack set up by right winger Martin Harnik in the 73rd after he was left unmarked in front of Russia goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
Referee Martin Atkinson ignored protests by Russian players who claimed Okotie was offside, and Russia coach Fabio Capello repeated the criticism afterward.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who returned to the national team after missing two qualifiers during his seven-week heel injury layoff, put Sweden ahead at Montenegro after scoring from short range in the ninth minute for his 51st goal in 101 internationals.
Montenegro captain Vladimir Jovetic leveled from the penalty spot in the 80th after he was brought down by Erkan Zengin.
In the other group game, Moldava lost 1-0 at home to Liechtenstein after defender Franz Burgmeier's goal in the 74th.
Austria remained unbeaten in nine straight matches since October 2013.
Austria has never qualified for a European Championship though it took part as a co-host with Switzerland in 2008.
The top two teams in each group and the best third-place team will qualify directly for the tournament in France, while all remaining third-place teams will advance to playoffs.
Less than a minute before he found the net, Okotie thought he scored. His shot from short range was saved by Akinfeev, though TV footage appeared to show the goalie grabbed the ball from behind the line.
The defeat left Russia with just one win from its last seven competitive matches and could put further pressure on Capello's position.
Capello has been in ongoing dispute with the Russian Football Untion, as he hasn't been paid since June, and the Italian said last month he was running out of patience.
The RFU admitted it can't afford his salary of an estimated $11 million a year, and it didn't extent contracts with Capello's long-term assistant coach, Christian Panucci, and fitness coach Massimo Neri, who were missing in Austria.
Group C
Spain beats Belarus 3-0, Slovakia keeps group lead
Francisco "Isco" Alarcon scored early to spark Spain's placid 3-0 win over Belarus in a European Championship qualifier on Saturday.
Slovakia's 2-0 victory at Macedonia kept it on top of Group C with 12 points, while Ukraine stayed level with Spain on nine points after Andriy Yarmolenko scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at Luxembourg.
With Andres Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas injured, Isco made a strong argument to form part of coach Vicente del Bosque's remodeling project as Spain looks to defend its European title in 2016.
Isco curled in a long strike to open the scoring in the 18th minute. Sergio Busquets made it 2-0 a minute later, and Pedro Rodriguez scored in the 55th.
The match in hand, Del Bosque gave Jose Callejon and Alvaro Morata their international debuts as second-half substitutes.
"Isco! Isco" rang out at Nuevo Colombino Stadium when he was substituted, but Del Bosque said he, for one, was not overwhelmed by Isco's performance against a minor opponent, hinting that Iniesta and Cesc were still his first-choice playmakers.
"Isco played a good game but, like the rest, he got lost trying to be a virtuoso," Del Bosque said.
Spain's next match is a friendly against world champion Germany on Tuesday.
Macedonia was left with three points. Belarus and Luxembourg remained with one point each.
Isco's dribbling and passing evoked the incisiveness usually provided by Iniesta, as the Real Madrid midfielder took charge of Spain's attack from the start.
With Spain playing with the most verve since before its disappointing World Cup, Isco put the hosts on their way with a superb right-footed strike just inside the corner of the goal frame after fellow youngster Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion had recovered possession near Belarus' area.
Busquets quickly made it 2-0 when Juanfran Torres' pass was deflected for the Barcelona midfielder to fire in a low strike off a defender from outside the box.
Spain didn't miss striker Diego Costa either, with Pedro scoring moments after Juanfran worked a one-two passing combination with Santi Cazorla before setting up the forward to fire past goalkeeper Yuri Zhevnov. Pedro hit the post in the 89th.
Andrey Zygmantovich made his debut as Belarus coach.
Slovakia went in front at Macedonia through Juraj Kucka in the 25th from a cross by Vladimir Weiss. Adam Nemec added a second goal in the 38th.
Yarmolenko gave Ukraine the lead in the 33rd. The Dinamo Kiev attacking midfielder curled another left-footed strike past Luxembourg goalkeeper Jonathan Joubert in the 53rd before adding a third goal three minutes later.