Chelsea's Joe Cole came to England's rescue again with a brace of goals to give the Three Lions a 2-0 win in their World Cup qualifying opener with Andorra.

The team ranked 186th in the world frustrated an England side boasting a host of Barclays Premier League stars for 45 minutes, as they did 18 months ago. After being brought on at the interval, Cole scored twice within 10 minutes, adding to the goal he scored against the Czech Republic in his previous match when he equalised with almost the last kick.

A Wales side featuring the likes of Tottenham Hotspur's Chris Gunter and Gareth Bale and Fulham's Simon Davies overcame Azerbaijan to win 1-0 at the Millenium Stadium, thanks to a goal from youngster Sam Vokes.

israel's encounter

Elsewhere Scotland fell to a 1-0 away defeat to Macedonia in a match which could have seen more goals from the home side had it not have been for the heroics of Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon.

Liverpool's Martin Skrtel scored for Slovakia as his side defeated Northern Ireland 2-1. Nigel Worthington's losing team featured Fulham duo Chris Baird and Aaron Hughes and Sunderland pair George McCartney and David Healy.

The Republic of Ireland, boasting a multitude of Barclays Premier League, talent enjoyed a winning start to their campaign, recording a 1-2 away victory against Georgia. Goals from Kevin Doyle and Glenn Whelan saw the Republic claim all three points.

Middlesbrough's Tuncay Sanli scored as Turkey beat Armenia 2-0, Tottenham's Luka Modric scored Croatia's second as they beat Kazakhstan 3-0 and Portsmouth's Ben Sahar scored in the last minute of the match to salvage an equalizer in Israel's encounter with Switzerland.

Manchester United's Nani scored the fourth of Portugal's 4-0 win in Malta and Aston Villa's Stiliyan Petrov scored the opener in Bulgaria's 2-2 draw with Montenegro.

Bolton Wanderers' Heidar Helguson was on target for Iceland in his country's 2-2 World Cup qualifier with Norway.

Fulham's Clint Dempsey hit the only goal of the match as the USA beat Cuba 1-0 in Havana while Manchester City's Felipe Caicedo found the net as Ecuador defeated Bolivia 3-1. Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez was sent off in the first half of of Argentina's 1-1 draw against Paraguay.