ENGLAND stayed top of Group G on goal difference after coming from two goals behind to rescue a draw against Switzerland in an entertaining end-of-season qualifier at Wembley.
Frank Lampard's penalty and a well-taken volley by second-half substitute Ashley Young ensured a point after poor defending to two Tranquillo Barnetta free-kicks had given the Swiss a surprise lead.
Even before Switzerland took the lead, though, there had been warning signs.
As ever, England were struggling to keep possession and the Swiss seemed happy to shoot from range with Joe Hart making good saves from Gokhan Inler and Xherdan Shaqiri.
Meanwhile, England's best chance early on came after two minutes when Theo Walcott was just beaten to the ball by keeper Diego Benaglio.
But the match really exploded into life shortly after the half-hour mark with three goals in five minutes.
Barnetta was first to strike as he floated in a free-kick from about 30 yards out on the left. The ball evaded everyone and made its way past the scrambling Hart into the far corner of the net.
England did not learn their lesson and, within two minutes, Barnetta had another dead-ball in about the same place on the pitch.
This time, the Bayer Leverkusen forward favoured drilling the ball low to the near post and, assisted heavily by the breaking of an atrocious two-man wall of Walcott and James Milner, he scored.
Again, Hart was left scrambling in vain towards the post as the ball sneaked into the net and England looked in a mess.
Thankfully, the home side responded immediately and credit must go to Jack Wilshere for his positive, direct run straight from the kick-off.
Wilshere's burst into the box brought a penalty after he was upended by his club mate Johan Djourou. Lampard fired the ball under the arm of the unlucky Benaglio and England were back in it.
Nevertheless, the Wembley crowd jeered Fabio Capello's men off the pitch with some in attendance unhappy that it had taken them until 20 minutes after kick-off to get into the stands.
Capello introduced Young for Lampard and England were better in the second half as a result. There was less defensive uncertainty and England were able to control the game a lot better.
The equaliser, when it came, was a simple but effective move. A throw-in down the left was chipped in by Milner to Leighton Baines who chested it down for Young to volley an early shot across the goalkeeper into the far corner.
From then on, England looked the likelier side to win. Young was particularly industrious, perhaps proving a point to Capello who had unfathomably left him on the bench despite a fine performance against Wales in March.
Indeed, Young was involved when England came closest to their winner, his shot having been parried by Benaglio straight into the path of the in-form Aston Villa striker Darren Bent.
But with the goal gaping, Bent astonishingly sent his effort blazing over the bar and, as England tired, it proved a costly failure to hit the target.
Not that costly, though. England may have extended their winless run at Wembley to four matches - their worst sequence for 30 years - but after Montenegro's 1-1 draw with Bulgaria, Capello's men are in no worse position in their group.
And so, it is looking increasingly likely that the match against the Montenegrins in Podgorica on 7 October will ultimately decide the direction of Group G.
The outcome of Group B for the Republic of Ireland is even less certain after the three bigger teams each won in the latest round of qualifiers.
Robbie Keane became the first British or Irish footballer to score 50 international goals as his brace proved the difference between Ireland and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia.
There was a bit of fortune about both of Keane's goals - his first was deflected and his second was a gift after a horrendous mis-kick by defender Boban Grncharov.
Nevertheless, Keane is not going to start complaining about the nature of his 50th and 51st goals in a green shirt, given their importance to the Irish in this group.
The victory in the Balkans moves Ireland onto 13 points, level with Slovakia - who sneaked a 1-0 against Andorra - and Russia, who beat Armenia 3-1 thanks to a Roman Pavlyuchenko hat-trick.
GROUP A
Germany moved to the brink of qualification - mathematically, they are now just two points away - after a 3-1 win in Azerbaijan thanks to goals from Mehut Oezil, Mario Gomez and Andre Schuerlle. On Friday, the Germans had moved seven points clear after Mario Gomez's strikes at the end of both halves had given them a narrow 2-1 victory over neighbours Austria.
The lead increased because the Germans' nearest rivals, Belgium and Turkey, cancelled each other out in a 1-1 in Brussels which left them on 11 and 10 points respectively. Turkey have a game in hand on the Belgians but look like losing the services of coach Guus Hiddink to Chelsea.
Kazakhstan 2-1 Azerbaijan
Austria 1-2 Germany
Belgium 1-1 Turkey
Azerbaijan 1-3 Germany
GROUP B
As mentioned above in the main report, Robbie Keane has now scored 51 international goals after his brace helped Republic of Ireland beat FYR Macedonia 2-0. Slovakia sneaked past Andorra 1-0 and Russia beat Armenia 3-1 thanks to a Roman Pavlyuchenko hat-trick.
The results leave Slovakia, Russia and Ireland tied at the top of the group on 13 points from six games. The Slovakians are ahead courtesy of the best head-to-head record between the teams but the Irish and the Russians have a better goal difference.
Russia 3-1 Armenia
Slovakia 1-0 Andorra
FYR Macedonia 0-2 Republic of Ireland
GROUP C
Italy kept their stranglehold on Group C with a routine 3-0 win over Estonia in Modena. Goals from Giuseppe Rossi, Antonio Cassano and Giampaolo Pazzini ensured the Azzurri remain five points clear of second-placed Slovenia who beat minnows Faroe Islands 2-0 in Toftir.
Italy now need only two wins from their last four qualifiers for a place in the finals meaning Slovenia look likely to have to settle for the playoffs. In the midweek game, the Faroes astonished Estonia by winning 2-0, completing a poor week for the Baltic side. In the race for second, Slovenia have 11 points from seven games, Serbia are on eight points from six, Estonia look out of the running on seven points from seven while Northern Ireland are on six points but from just five games.
Faroe Islands 0-2 Slovenia
Italy 3-0 Estonia
Faroe Islands 2-0 Estonia
GROUP D
Belarus beat Luxembourg 2-0 to close within a point of France at the top of Group D. It completes a good week for the Belarussians as, four days earlier, the French settled for a point in Minsk when a fine Florent Malouda volley provided the antidote to Eric Abidal's own goal in a 1-1 draw.
As it stands, France are on 13 points from six games and Belarus are on 12 but having played a game more. Indeed, Bosnia-Herzegovina are probably favourites for second-place as they are on 10 points from six games after recovering from their 3-0 bashing by Romania to beat Albania 2-0. As just mentioned, Romania - who are on eight points from six games - helped their chances of qualifying by beating the Bosnians 3-0 in Bucharest thanks to two goals from Ciprian Marica and one from Adrian Mutu.
Romania 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Belarus 1-1 France
Belarus 2-0 Luxembourg
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 Albania
GROUP E
Sweden gave themselves a chance of closing down leaders Netherlands with nine goals in the last week. First, they enjoyed a 4-1 win over Moldova in Chisinau in which Ola Toivonen, Johan Elmander, Sebastian Larsson and Alexander Gerndt were all on the scoresheet.
Then, the Swedes thrashed neighbours Finland 5-0 with a great attacking display including a hat-trick for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. That sort of result was to be expected after the Finns had laboured to a 1-0 win over San Marino with former Chelsea forward Mikael Forssell sparing Finnish blushes in Serravelle.
With the Dutch out of action, the results mean Sweden are back to within three points of the Oranje. Hungary, a further three points back having played a game more, are probably out the running despite their routine 3-0 win over San Marino.
Moldova 1-4 Sweden
San Marino 0-1 Finland
Sweden 5-0 Finland
San Marino 0-3 Hungary
GROUP F
Euro 2004 winners Greece lead a three-horse race in Group F after a straight-forward 3-1 win over Malta in Piraeus. The unbeaten Greeks are on 14 points from six matches, one ahead of Croatia who came from behind to beat Temuri Ketsbaia's Georgia 2-1 thanks to Nikola Kalinic's late winner.
The Croatians are joined on 13 points by Israel after Yossi Benayoun and Tal Ben Haim scored in their 2-1 win over Latvia in Riga but the Israelis have played a game more than their two rivals.
Croatia 2-1 Georgia
Latvia 1-2 Israel
Greece 3-1 Malta
GROUP G
England and Montenegro remained locked at the top of Group G on 11 points after both teams drew their latest qualifier. England had to come from 2-0 down to force a draw at Wembley before Montenegro drew 1-1 with Bulgaria. The qualifier in Podgorica on 7 October between Montenegro and England is looking more and more vital.
The Montenegrins looked like heading top of the group when Radomir Djalovic gave them the lead early in the second half but Ivelin Popov soon equalised for Bulgaria. The draws left Switzerland and Bulgaria adrift on five points apiece with Gary Speed's Wales rock-bottom having yet to score.
England 2-2 Switzerland
Montenegro 1-1 Bulgaria
GROUP H
There is another three-way tie at the top of Group H with Portugal, Denmark and Norway all on 10 points. Former Tottenham Hotspur striker Helder Postiga scored the only goal as the Portuguese moved top of the group by beating Norway 1-0 in Lisbon.
Denmark kept up their challenge after second-half goals from Lasse Schone and Christian Eriksen were enough to beat Iceland 2-0. The Danes face Norway and Portugal at home on 6 September and 7 October in the only matches left between the three top sides.
Iceland 0-2 Denmark
Portugal 1-0 Norway
GROUP I
Minnow Liechtenstein won their first competitive match for four years after first-half goals from Philippe Erne and Michele Polverino. The result meant Liechtenstein scored their first points of this campaign and moved within one point of Lithuania... and Scotland.
The Scots, on just four points from as many matches, have a game in hand on the bottom two but their chances of catching Spain, on a perfect 15 points, and even Czech Republic, on nine, are very slim indeed.
Liechtenstein 2-0 Lithuania
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