ENGLAND stumbled to a 1-1 draw in Montenegro last night, a result which leaves their prospects of qualifying for World Cup 2014 looking far from certain.
Wayne Rooney had given Roy Hodgson's men the perfect start in Podgorica, heading in Steven Gerrard's corner after just six minutes, having already hit the woodwork with an audacious chip.
But the Three Lions' early dominance fizzled out after the break as the home side came more and more into the game.
There were plenty of warnings for England in the second half with dangerous Serie A strike pair Mirko Vucinic and Stevan Jovetic both going close.
Eventually, though, it was substitute Dejan Damjanovic who would poke in the equaliser, also from a corner, after an unholy mess of a goalmouth scramble.
Just 14 minutes of the match remained when Montenegro restored parity - but there was still enough time for either side to have won the tie.
The two best chances both came from free-kicks but Vucinic blasted over for the hosts before Gerrard's stoppage time effort was only just kept out by Montenegrin keeper Mladen Bozovic.
Ultimately, then, the teams had to settle with a point apiece, a third successive draw since October 2010, and a result which, this time, no doubt suits Montenegro fine.
After all, it keeps the tiny Balkan nation two points clear at the top of Group H, with England now having drawn all three of their games against their principle rivals so far.
Wins against Moldova and San Marino, as important as they still are, can be pretty much taken for granted and will not decide England's fate in these qualifiers.
And, while Hodgson is technically correct to insist that the Three Lions still have qualification in their own hands, England really need to start winning, rather than running out of steam, in these crucial games against their main opponents.
At least when England resume this campaign in the autumn they will play Poland and then Montenegro at Wembley.
But, before those matches, Ukraine and Poland will have both played their game in hand, and Hodgson's men must also attempt to overcome Ukraine in Kiev in September.
England's four-point lead over the Euro 2012 hosts looks handy enough at the moment but it is, in fact, a rather fragile advantage, particular as Ukraine are yet to face San Marino.
In the very worst case scenario, England would fail even to make the playoffs with Montenegro winning the group and Ukraine making good use of their fixtures to finish runners-up.
Sadly, such an outcome is a distinct possibility in what would be a disaster for English football, the national team having qualified for every World Cup since 1994.
By contrast, even by the admission of their own coach Chris Coleman, third place is the maximum which Wales can achieve.
Belgium and Croatia running away at the top of Group A on 16 points apiece, while Wales - who were beaten 2-1 by the Croatians in Swansea last night - have only two 2-1 wins over Scotland to show for their efforts so far.
The Welsh currently lie a point behind Serbia in fourth - but, if that sounds bad enough, things are so much more hopeless north of the border.
Humiliatingly, and still somewhat unbelievably, Scotland became the first European team to be knocked out of the World Cup after their two defeats this week to the Welsh and the Serbs.
Even the likes of Andorra, Malta, San Marino and the Faroe Isles still have a technical chance of making it to Brazil 2014 whereas, mathematically for the Scots, the dream is already officially over.
The re-building job for new coach Gordon Strachan is perhaps even bigger than he realised.
Meanwhile, over the Irish Sea, matters were little better with Northern Ireland extending their winless run to 13 matches after going down 2-0 to Israel at Windsor Park.
Unlike Scotland, the Northern Irish are not quite mathematically out of equation - but, having fallen eight points behind second-placed and third-placed Israel and Portugal, Michael O'Neill's men might as well be.
In Group C, the Republic of Ireland are still in with a shout - but, following two draws in four days, they have fallen to fourth, behind Austria and Sweden on goal difference.
Germany - eight points clear - are dominating the section as expected, having dropped only two points out of 18 so far.
Undoubtedly, the biggest tie of the night came in Paris where World Cup holders Spain beat France to regain the lead at the top of Group I.
Pedro scored the only goal of the match for Vicente del Bosque's men who had ceded advantage at the top of the group last week following a shock 1-1 draw against Finland in Gijon.
However, victory in Paris preserved the Spaniards' 50-game unbeaten record in World Cup qualifiers, a sequence which stretches back to March 1993.
And, more importantly in the present, it leaves the French praying for another unlikely Spanish slip-up, with the playoffs now looking more likely again for Les Bleus.
In Groups B and D respectively, Italy and Netherlands could actually both afford a slip-up and still retain control of their destiny.
Mario Balotelli scored twice as the unbeaten Azzurri recorded an unconvincing 2-0 win over rock-bottom Malta to remain three points clear of second-placed Bulgaria with a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Robin van Persie also scored a brace as the Dutch retained their 100% record with a 4-0 thumping of Romania, a result which has put them seven points clear of Hungary in second.
Finally, at the exact halfway stage in qualifying, Switzerland and Bosnia-Herzegovina lead the way in Groups E and G, respectively.
The Bosnians, who have been beaten by Portugal in the playoffs of the last two major competitions, have never qualified for a World Cup or European Championships since gaining independence from Yugoslavia in 1992.
Out-of-favour Manchester City man Edin Dzeko appears determined to change that. He scored twice on Friday in the vital 3-1 win over Greece and, indeed, he is top scorer in the European section of qualifying with seven goals.
Note: Full World Cup 2014 qualification results/tables can be found at the FIFA website and on Wikipedia.
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