The World Cup qualifiers are underway! That's right: The first week in September is the informal beginning (for UEFA, anyway) of an arduous, multitiered qualification process across the globe in which more than 200 soccer-playing nations are eventually weeded down to the 32 that will scrap for supremacy in Brazil roughly 18 months from now.

Over the next year and a half, each country will play roughly 3,647 games -- I could be exaggerating here -- for the rights to lose to Germany, Brazil or Spain in 2014, one of the highest honors in the beautiful game.

But what intrigued me in the first round of games -- beyond the lack of palpable widespread drama -- was the varying approaches of the top nations expected to contend (or at least be the most interesting).

For starters, would the early qualifiers be a chance to embed young talent or come out at full strength? UEFA's best took many approaches.

The Dutch began their latest rebuilding process -- this one under the jowly tactician, Louis van Gaal -- with seven starters who had fewer international caps combined (31) than Arjen Robben (62). End result: a 2-0 win over Turkey. France, in a shaky 1-0 win in Finland, gave minutes to Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Mamadou Sakho in defense while still finding room for stalwarts Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, neither of whom impressed.

Meanwhile, England and Roy Hodgson ran out tawny youth prospects Steven Gerrard (32) and Frank Lampard (34) against mighty Moldova. Taking it one step further, the evergreen, up-and-coming Michael Carrick (31) was a lively second-half sub in a 5-0 thrashing of lowly Eastern European fodder. Though Hodgson had room for the Three Lions' next wave -- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tom Cleverly both impressed -- it was largely a senior effort, prompting many to wonder of the starting lineup (which included John Terry versus Moldova) they might feature two summers from now.

Two of Euro 2012's most improved teams largely stuck with what propelled them through the summer. Italy, fresh off a strong run to the Euro 2012 final, changed little in a surprising 2-2 draw to Bulgaria -- enlivened by Pablo Osvaldo's brace in just his third international game -- while Portugal's supposed momentum was nearly derailed in a narrow 2-1 win at the titans of modern soccer, Luxembourg.

In South America, Argentina's sustained conundrum of fitting Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Angel Di Maria (among other preternaturally gifted forwards) into the same lineup culminated in a 3-1 win over World Cup 2010's anti-attacking space-filler Paraguay, which means the alchemy is working. At least until it isn't.

And the less said about the U.S. performance in Kingston, Jamaica, at this point, probably the better.

Yet all these results, both mundane and eye-opening alike, highlight the deeper difficulties of World Cup qualification. For a good 75 percent of teams likely to qualify from around the globe, these journeys are largely a rite of passage. The Germanys, Spains and even Englands of the crop will, barring disaster, make it through, leaving the qualifying rounds as largely a battle of both physical and mental attrition. Managers struggle with questions of squad rotation or comfortable passage, unsure whether to offer debuts or lock up qualification with months to spare.

Maintaining interest and alertness in these early-round fixtures is also tricky given that the European club season is in full swing and of far greater intrigue, not to mention the potential for season-ending injury (generally, a pain reserved for Arsenal fans).

Such is the first full international break of the season. To commit to club or country?

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