Polish football officials were left red-faced on Tuesday after their World Cup qualifier against England was postponed because of a waterlogged pitch -- despite Warsaw 's national stadium boasting a retractable roof . A heavy downpour started more than four hours before the match but the roof on the stadium was never closed , so allowing the pitch to become unplayable . `` It 's up to the people whose responsibility it is to run the stadium for them to decide when the roof needs to be on , or if it needs to be on , '' England manager Roy Hodgson said . `` No one will be more disappointed than them that the roof had n't gone on and the pitch was playable . '' World governing body FIFA delayed kick-off to see if conditions improved but the referee called the game off 45 minutes after it should have started , rescheduling the match for Wednesday afternoon . The 58,000-capacity stadium was specifically built for the 2012 European Championship , at a cost of nearly $ 650 million , which Poland co-hosted in June along with neighbors Ukraine . Polish organizers later stated that they were unable to take a unilateral decision to open or close a roof since they needed clearance from FIFA to do so . `` It takes 15 minutes to close the roof . However , this can not happen in a temperature below zero , with very strong wind , and rain deposited on the folded roof , '' added Daria Kuklinska , a spokeswoman for the stadium operator . It was a mixed night for England , whose Under-21 side qualified for next year 's European Championship when beating Serbia in a game in Krusevac that ended with ugly scenes and the visitors reporting `` a number of incidents of racism '' to European governing body UEFA . `` The FA condemns both the scenes of racism and the confrontation at the final whistle during which time our players and staff were under extreme provocation , '' said the English FA in a statement . Among the World Cup qualifiers that were played on Tuesday , Germany were held 4-4 at home by Sweden despite leading by four goals with an hour gone . A brace from Miroslav Klose had helped Germany assume a seemingly unassailable lead in Berlin only for Sweden to take advantage of an uncharacteristic lack of German resilience , as Rasmus Elm dramatically earned a point deep in the 93rd minute . Another team to be denied in the last minute were Spain , whose remarkable run of 24 consecutive wins in qualifying games -- which stretched back to 2007 -- was ended when drawing 1-1 at home to 1998 World Cup winners France in Madrid . Sergio Ramos gave the world and European champions an early lead which Cesc Fabregas failed to double when his first-half penalty was saved -- leaving the visitors to earn a deserved point when Olivier Giroud headed home deep in stoppage time . Elsewhere , an historic night for Cristiano Ronaldo -- who was winning his 100th cap for Portugal -- was upstaged by visitors Northern Ireland , who led for large parts of the game in Porto before Helder Postiga earned a 1-1 draw just ten minutes from time . Ronaldo had started the night in high spirits as he was presented with a special cap to mark the occasion but after the match , the Real Madrid star left the pitch in pouring rain sporting a face like thunder . In other games , Russia needed a fortuitous 84th minute penalty to defeat Azerbaijan 1-0 in Moscow , Belgium continued their impressive form when beating Scotland 2-0 at home while Italy made light of losing Pablo Osvaldo to a red card after 46 minutes as they won 3-1 in Milan against Denmark . In South America , Uruguay -- who finished third at the World Cup two years ago -- were humbled in La Paz where Bolivia won 4-1 , with Luis Suarez scoring a consolation goal for the visitors late on .
Poland 's home tie with England delayed 24 hours by waterlogged pitch . Germany let slip a four-goal lead at home as Sweden net late on to claim dramatic 4-4 draw . Spain 's remarkable run of 24 successive qualifying wins ends when held by France in Madrid . Ronaldo 's 100th cap overshadowed as Portugal salvage 1-1 draw at home to Northern Ireland .