Wayne Rooney edged closer to England's all-time scoring record on the night of his 100th cap, helping Roy Hodgson's men to a 3-1 comeback win against Slovenia.
Few expected the Three Lions to falter against the side ranked 36th in the world, yet they were given a scare on the way to maintaining their winning start to Euro 2016 qualifying.
Jordan Henderson's own goal had the potential to ruin Rooney's special night, but he levelled from the penalty spot just a minute later, before a Danny Welbeck brace secured a 3-1 win.
It was a result which looked unlikely during a tepid first half in which the poor state of the Wembley pitch, scarred by last weekend's NFL game, did not help the flow of the game.
It took Henderson's 58th-minute own goal -- the first England had conceded for 513 minutes -- to spring the game into life, with Rooney earning a penalty from which he scored a minute later to move within five goals of Sir Bobby Charlton's record haul of 49.
The penalty moved him joint-third with Jimmy Greaves and kick-started an England comeback, with Welbeck scoring two goals of vastly differing quality to secure another Group E win.
Switzerland moved even with Slovenia on points after a 4-0 win over Lithuania that was scoreless until Giedrius Arlauskis's own goal in the 66th minute.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored twice late on to pad the final scoreline.
San Marino earned their first point of the qualifying campaign -- and ended a 62-game losing streak -- as they frustrated Estonia in a 0-0 Group E stalemate in Serravalle.
The match between the group's bottom two sides was dominated by the visitors but they could not find a goal -- thanks to their own wayward shooting and some big saves from Aldo Simoncini late on.
Spain controlled Belarus from the start in a 3-0 win.
Isco, making his first start for La Roja, opened the scoring 18 minutes in with a remarkable curling shot from 20 yards into the top corner.
Sergio Busquets capitalised on a missed clearance and Spain led 2-0 at the break, while Pedro scored in the second half as the visitors rarely troubled goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
Spain, however, remain three points back of Group C leaders Slovakia, who defeated Macedonia 2-0 thanks to first-half goals from Juraj Kucka and Adam Nemec.
Austria continued their fine start to their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 victory over Russia in Vienna.
Rubin Okotie's 73rd-minute goal was enough to lift Austria five points clear of their Group G opponents, who suffered the first defeat of their campaign at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion.
The visitors had several chances to open the scoring but their failure to do so came back to haunt them as pool leaders Austria moved on to 10 points from their opening four fixtures.
Also in Group G, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored on his return for Sweden but it was not enough for victory as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Montenegro in Podgorica.
Montenegro's Stevan Jovetic levelled from the penalty spot with 11 minutes remaining to salvage a point.
Franz Burgmeier's second-half free kick earned Liechtenstein their first win as they beat Moldova 1-0.
Liechtenstein skipper Burgmeier dipped a superb strike over the wall from the edge of the box and that was enough to settle a turgid contest between the two bottom-placed sides in Group G at the Zimbru Stadium.
The loss leaves hosts Moldova as the only team in the group still searching for their first win and they now prop up the standings as Liechtenstein leapfrogged them.
Andriy Yarmolenko notched a hat-trick as Ukraine recorded their third straight victory in Group C with a 3-0 triumph at rock-bottom Luxembourg.
Yarmolenko put the visitors ahead with a rising finish in the 33rd minute and added two quickfire curling efforts after the break in the 53rd and 56th minutes.
The win saw Ukraine move on to nine points from four games in the pool, while Luxembourg remain on one point.