Recent qualifying campaigns have seen Northern Ireland beat England and Spain at home, and the resolute effort against the Azzurri has put Nigel Worthington's men right in the qualifying mix again.
It is early days, of course, and - despite their poor World Cup - the Italians are still top and strong favourites to win Euro 2012 qualifying Group C.
But with four points from two matches, Northern Ireland are above Serbia and Slovenia having played a game less.
Incredibly, that fine draw against Italy only puts the Northern Irish in third as Estonia are in second place on six points after their shock 3-1 win away to Serbia.
In the other match in the group, Slovenia beat Faroe Islands 5-1 at home. The Faroes are Northern Ireland's next opponents in Torshavn on Tuesday.
But, while there will be celebrations in Belfast, the results made depressing reading for the other British teams. Indeed, England probably had the best night - without even playing.
Unexpectedly, the Three Lions' supposed closest rivals Switzerland followed up their 3-1 loss to England last month with another defeat, 1-0 in Montenegro.
The unfancied Montenegrins now lead Group G with a perfect record of nine points from three games. On Tuesday, they face England at Wembley.
In the same group, Wales went down to a second successive 1-0 defeat, this time at home against Bulgaria.
And with Montenegro playing so well, the Welsh are already in serious danger of finishing bottom of the group. Brian Flynn's men are away to Switzerland on Tuesday.
Bottom place is not a fate about to befall Scotland after two wins in their opening two matches but a miserable performance in their third match against Czech Republic in Prague brought a deserved 1-0 defeat.
Head coach Craig Levein opted for a 6-4-0 formation which simply served to invite wave after wave of Czech attacks on the Scotland goal.
In fairness, the Scottish held out for 70 minutes but when Roman Hubnik headed in a corner, Levein was forced to change his tactics anyway.
It didn't work and Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was barely tested in the last 20 minutes. The Scottish defenders and midfielders had conceded so much possession earlier in the game that they were totally exhausted by the time the attacking cavalry in Kenny Miller and Chris Iwelumo arrived.
At least Levein can console himself that, thanks to a 97th-minute winner against Liechtenstein last month, Scotland's position in the Group I is still pretty decent.
Group favourites Spain were 0-0 at half-time against Lithuania, and 1-1 at one stage in the second half, but eventually the defending champions ran out 3-1 winners to lead the group on six points out of six.
Below the Spanish, though, the group is much of a muchness. Scotland and Lithuania have four points from three matches with the Czechs in fourth place on three points from two matches.
Unfortunately for the Tartan Army, Scotland will expect to lose ground as their next fixture is against Spain on Tuesday night at Hampden Park.
Republic of Ireland also face a vital match in midweek in Slovakia after being beaten 3-2 at home by Group B top seeds Russia at the new Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Spearheaded by Arsenal's Andrei Arshavin, Dick Advocaat's Russia were far too good for the Irish and took a 2-0 lead into half time after goals by Alexander Kerzhakov and Alan Dzagoev.
The game looked dead and buried five minutes into the second period when Roman Shirokov's shot took a wicked deflection off Richard Dunne and gave Shay Given no chance.
But, belatedly, the Irish launched a comeback and gained a lifeline when Robbie Keane was bundled over in the box.
Keane himself struck home the penalty for his 45th international goal and, six minutes later, it was 3-2 as Shane Long scored with a half-volley.
There were only 12 minutes remaining when the second goal went in, however. Unsurprisingly, a frantic finish unfolded but Giovanni Trapattoni's men were unable to steal a point.
At least the Irish will face a Slovakian team reeling from their own awful performance after they went down to a 3-1 defeat against Armenia in Yerevan.
That shock result leaves Slovakia, Russia and Republic of Ireland level at the top on six points from three matches.
But the Russians hold the advantage of having four successive matches against the minnows of the group, during which time the Irish and Slovakia play each other home and away.
Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Germany predictably took control of Group A with three wins out of three after an easy 3-0 home win over supposed second seeds Turkey.
Austria actually appear to be the Germans' biggest threat after they made it two wins out of two with their own 3-0 home win against Azerbaijan. Belgium gained their first win of the campaign, 2-0 away at Kazakhstan.
In Group D, France scored two late goals to beat Romania and go top of the table after the earlier failure of their unexpected challengers to get a win.
Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina cancelled each other out in a 1-1 draw in Tirana while Belarus were unable to breach the Luxembourg defence in a 0-0 stalemate.
World Cup finalists Netherlands made it three wins out of three in Group E with an instantly-forgettable 1-0 win in Moldova. In a rather bigger game, the Dutch face second-placed Sweden on Tuesday.
In the same group, Hungary remain a threat for now after the Magyars improved the goal difference with a huge 8-0 win over a hopeless San Marino side, the biggest win of the night.
Euro 2004 winners Greece earned their first win of the campaign in their third match, 1-0 against Latvia in Athens in a group which reeks of mediocrity.
Niko Krancjar scored twice as Croatia beat Israel 2-1 and went top of Group F with seven points. The Greeks lie third on goal difference after Georgia also made it five points from three games by beating Malta 1-0. Israel are fourth with four points from three games.
In Group H, Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal finally got their stuttering campaign off the ground with a deserved 3-1 home win over Denmark.
The Portuguese had drawn 4-4 with Cyprus and lost 1-0 in Norway before sacking coach Carlos Quieroz for his interference with anti-doping agents during the World Cup.
New man Paulo Bento certainly made an impressive start against the Danes last night but it is Norway who continue to lead the way with a perfect nine points from three matches.
Indeed, the Norwegians are five points clear at the top after first-half goals from John Arne Riise and John Carew were enough for a 2-1 win over Cyprus in Larnaca. Norway have not qualified for a major championship since Euro 2000.
EURO2012 QUALIFYING RESULTS
GROUP AAustria 3-0 Azerbaijan
Germany 3-0 Turkey
Kazakhstan 0-2 Belgium
GROUP B
Andorra 0-2 FYR Macedonia
Armenia 3-1 Slovakia
Republic of Ireland 2-3 Russia
GROUP C
Northern Ireland 0-0 Italy
Serbia 1-3 Estonia
Slovenia 5-1 Faroe Isles
GROUP D
Albania 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Luxembourg 0-0 Belarus
France 2-0 Romania
GROUP E
Hungary 8-0 San Marino
Moldova 0-1 Netherlands
GROUP F
Georgia 1-0 Malta
Greece 1-0 Latvia
Israel 1-2 Croatia
GROUP G
Montenegro 1-0 Switzerland
Wales 0-1 Bulgaria
GROUP H
Cyprus 1-2 Norway
Portugal 3-1 Denmark
GROUP I
Czech Republic 1-0 Scotland
Spain 3-1 Lithuania
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