England only earned a 2-2 draw in Austria courtesy of a blunder by keeper David James, France sorely missed the midfield creativity of Zinedine Zidane in a home 0-0 draw against Israel, and European champions Greece had a simply shocking result in losing 2-1 in Albania.

Italy beat Norway 2-1 in Palermo but only after a late goal by Luca Toni and they had been trailing following a John Carew goal in the opening minute. Italy travel to Moldova in their Group Five clash on Wednesday.

Captain David Beckham emerged as England's main injury concern ahead of Wednesday's Group Six match against Poland in Chorzow.

Beckham was forced to leave training here early Monday after picking up a rib injury in Saturday's 2-2 draw against Austria.

"Beckham took a knock on the rib during the game which was very sore today (Monday).

"He will continue to be assessed by the medical staff," a statement issued by the Football Association reported.

The England team were due to leave Austria for Katowice later Monday.

Steven Gerrard was the only other one of Sven-Goran Eriksson's 22-man squad who left the training session early.

The Liverpool skipper has fully recovered from a groin problem before Saturday's match and finished early purely as a precautionary measure, the FA said.

Although expected to recover in time for Wednesday's game Beckham's injury could not have come at a worse time for Eriksson, under fire after England squandered a two goal lead against Austria.

France travel to the Faroe Islands desperate to reignite their Group Four campaign after their hiccup against Israel.

A work under construction is how coach Raymond Domenech describes the 1998 world champions but the one asset he sorely needs to carry out the regeneration - namely time - is missing.

This trip to the little fishing community in the North Atlantic between Scotland and Iceland - population 46,672 - would in years gone by have been regarded as easy pickings for a team that boasted such giants of the game as Zinedine Zidane, Marcel Desailly, Lilian Thurma and Bixente Lizarazu.

But with this quartet retired after France's failed Euro 2004 campaign, former under-21 coach Domenech has been forced to entrust France's fortunes in a new generation of players.

European champions Greece have a point to prove against Turkey in Group Two.

The Euro 2004 winners are now expected to be even more highly motivated than usual against traditional rivals Turkey in their Group Two match at their newly-rebuilt Karaiskaki Stadium.

Greece defender Takis Fissas said in an interview with the ERA Sports radio station: "We know our fans will be behind us. It (preliminary World Cup matches) is a mini championship with 12 matches. We have played only one and nothing has been decided. We are at the beginning.

"We want to give more joy to Greeks. We will try to qualify for the World Cup. We want them behind us. We saw on television how with passion they waited in long lines to buy tickets."

This will be the first time Greece have played on home soil since winning the Euro 2004 trophy two months ago.