A turgid Group E encounter between England and Slovenia at Wembley yesterday came to life in the second half as Roy Hodgson's side fought back to win 3-1 and make it four wins from four games in Group E to remain firmly on track for a place at the finals in France.
Slovenia took the lead just before the hour mark when Jordan Henderson headed into his own net, but England were back on level terms moments later thanks to Wayne Rooney, who won and then converted a penalty to mark the occasion of his 100th international appearance with his 44th goal for his country.
"It was a good day in the end. We had to show character and that will be good for us in the team. Since the World Cup, we haven't faced that (going behind)," said Rooney, as England now turn their thoughts to Tuesday's friendly with Scotland in Glasgow.
Spain will go into a friendly with World Cup winners Germany fresh from a routine 3-0 victory against Belarus in Group C, a result that saw the current European champions make it three wins from four qualifiers.
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Real Madrid midfielder Isco marked his first start for La Roja by scoring a brilliant first-half opener and Barcelona duo Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez added further goals in a game played in the southern town of Huelva.
Meanwhile, after the Faroe Islands recorded a stunning 1-0 win in Greece on Friday, prompting the demise of Claudio Ranieri as coach of the 2004 European champions, San Marino and Liechtenstein claimed famous results of their own.
San Marino, ranked 208th and joint-last in the world by FIFA alongside Bhutan, ended a run of 61 consecutive defeats by holding Estonia to a 0-0 draw at home in Group E.
After seeing his side gain their first ever point in a European Championship qualifier and avoid defeat in a competitive match for the first time since 2001, San Marino coach Pierangelo Manzaroli said: "This result is a reward for the players and it will be an incentive to gain other good results sooner than in 12 years' time.