Sven-Goran Eriksson's men took the plaudits with an assured performance at Old Trafford where goals from Frank Lampard and skipper David Beckham sent them top of Group Six.

"I was very pleased with the performance," said Eriksson who was rewarded for his bold approach of playing three strikers in Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and Jermain Defoe.

"Wales defended very well, they closed all the spaces but we did a good professional job. We played with three strikers, had good balance and could have scored more goals."

England, who next face Azerbaijan in Baku on Wednesday, will be without Beckham who is suspended after being booked for a reckless tackle on Ben Thatcher.

He also ended the day undergoing X-rays on a broken rib which could sideline him from Real Madrid's upcoming fixtures.

Italy's hopes of securing an automatic place at the finals suffered a major setback after they lost 1-0 to Slovenia in Celje with their form as miserable as the driving rain.

Bostjan Cesar's header eight minutes from time gave the home side a dramatic victory and enabled Slovenia to replace Italy at the top Group Five.

Italy's defeat was their first in a World Cup qualifying match since May 1, 1994 when they lost away to Switzerland.

Slovenia top the group with seven points from three matches, one ahead of Italy, who had won their first two games against Norway and Moldova.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi insisted his team deserved better having dominated possession and enjoyed the greater number of chances.

"They scored from the only chance they had in the second-half," he said.

"You just cannot afford to lose these matches. We didn't deserve it because we played well. Now we must win our next game (against Belarus on Wednesday)."

In Vaduz, meanwhile, Euro 2004 runners-up Portugal suffered a humiliating setback when they were held to a 2-2 draw by the part-timers of Liechtenstein.

The Portuguese led 2-0 up at half-time thanks to a 23rd minute opener from Pauleta and a 39th minute own goal from Daniel Hasler.

But Liechtenstein refused to buckle against their superstar visitors and pulled one back three minutes after the interval through Franz Burgmeier. Thomas Beck then made it 2-2 with 14 minutes left to give the tiny nation their first point in the competition.

The defeat also left Portugal three points behind group leaders Slovakia who beat Latvia 4-1.

In Paris, former world champions France were held to a goalless draw by a spirited Ireland side.

Buoyed by a sea of green, white and orange - over 25,000 Irish supporters had come to watch this first meeting between the two countries in 15 years - Irish hopes were high of a first win in Paris since 1937.

A tough physical contest was predicted and that's what the packed Stade de France were served up with the Irish emerging the moral winners.

"We came here to be disciplined and defend when we had to," said Ireland skipper Kenny Cunnin-gham.

"We also took the game to them and we had chances to score. There were openings there and I think we showed a lot of imagination up front."

Switzerland, who drew 2-2 in Israel, stay top on goal difference with Ireland in second place.

In Skopje, the Netherlands surrendered a one-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Macedonia. Wilfred Bouma gave the Dutch a 43rd minute lead only for Goran Pandev to hit back on the stroke of half-time.

Dirk Kuijt then restored the lead in the 66th minute but Aco Stojkov saved a point for the home side four minutes later.

Spain managed to avoid similar setbacks when two goals in the space of four second half minutes from Alberto Luque and Raul were enough to beat Belgium in Group Seven in Santander.

Belgium finished the match with nine men after Eric Deflandre and Bart Goor were red-carded.

In Glasgow, former Tottenham striker Steffen Iversen scored from the penalty spot to give his side a 1-0 win over Scotland at Hampden Park and increase the pressure on Scots' boss Berti Vogts.

"We played so well, we were very unlucky. I am very proud of my team - they gave everything," said Vogts after the Group Five clash.

Scotland are now six points behind leaders Slovenia.

The Czech Republic, who lost their opening Group One game in the Netherlands, got their campaign back on track with a 1-0 win over Romania in Prague thanks to a 36th minute Jan Koller penalty.

Romania had gone into the match with a perfect nine points from three games.

Finland beat Armenia 3-1 in Tampere and went top on goal difference with two goals coming from Ipswich Town's Shefki Kuqi.

In Group Three, Slovakia extended their lead at the top with a 4-1 win over Latvia in Bratislava while Russia stayed in touch thanks to a 4-0 win in Luxembourg where Dmitri Sychev grabbed a hat-trick.