( CNN ) -- Champions Spain began the defense of their World Cup title with a hard fought 1-0 win against Georgia in Tbilisi on Tuesday . Playing their first qualifier in Group I , the 2010 World Cup winners had to wait until the 86th minute before striker Roberto Soldado finally broke down a stubborn Georgian side . For much of the game , the home team , who hit the post early in the second half , defended with 10 men behind the ball against a side who retained their European Championship crown in July . Goalkeeper Giorgi Loria had proved an immovable barrier but after he was replaced due to injury late in the second half , substitute Cesc Fabregas teed up Soldado to sweep home . The win maintains Spain 's two-year unbeaten run in competitive matches , which stretches back to their 1-0 loss against Switzerland in their opening game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . Spain are second in their group , three points behind 1998 champions France , who won their second match in four days when overcoming a second-half wobble to beat Belarus 3-1 in Paris , with goals from Etienne Capoue , Christophe Jallet and Franck Ribery . In London , England suffered a scare when trailing Ukraine for long periods before Frank Lampard scored a late penalty to earn a 1-1 draw , after Yevgen Konoplianka had curled home in the first half . England captain Steven Gerrard was sent off for a second yellow card shortly after Lampard 's penalty , as a first competitive game at Wembley for coach Roy Hodgson lacked the feelgood factor that has accompanied local sportsmen in London in recent weeks during the Olympics and Paralympics . Hodgson 's predecessor Fabio Capello enjoyed a more fruitful evening as his new Russian side won 4-0 in Israel while their next opponents -- and main Group F rivals Portugal -- needed late goals from Helder Postiga and Bruno Alves to add gloss to a labored 3-0 win over Azerbaijan in Braga . Italy , the runners-up at this year 's Euro 2012 , were another leading nation who struggled to overcome less fancied opponents , as a stoppage-time own goal helped the four time world champions to a 2-0 win over islanders Malta . One of Tuesday 's more intriguing games took place in Lucerne , where hosts Switzerland beat Albania 2-0 to go top of Group E. Build-up to the game had been dominated by the issue of players with Kosovan heritage , with six starting the match for Albania and three more for Switzerland -- midfield trio Granit Xhaka , Valon Behrami and Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri . Born to ethnic Albanian parents from Kosovo , Shaqiri was constantly booed by the sizable away support until the Bayern Munich player silenced them when opening the scoring after 23 minutes . Elsewhere , big guns Germany maintained their 100 % start in Group C when beating Austria 2-1 in Vienna , while Serbia stunned Group A rivals Wales with a 6-1 win in Novi Sad but the night 's biggest winners were Montenegro , who won 6-0 in San Marino .
Spain win 1-0 in Georgia thanks to 86th minute strike from Roberto Soldado . England are held 1-1 at Wembley by Ukraine as captain Steven Gerrard is sent off . France , Portugal and Italy make hard work of beating Belarus , Azerbaijan and Malta .