While World Cup holder Spain was among the traditional powers to open qualifying for the 2012 European Championship with a victory on Friday, France was further humiliated by a 1-0 home defeat against lowly Belarus.

Sergei Kislyak scored in the 86th minute to hand France one of its most embarrassing defeats, following a disastrous World Cup campaign.

David Villa matched Spain's all-time scoring record with his 44th international goal to help the defending European champion beat Liechtenstein 4-0 and take an early lead in the five-team Group I.

The Netherlands beat San Marino 5-0 to win its first competitive match since losing the World Cup final to Spain in July, while Germany won 1-0 at Belgium, Italy beat Estonia 2-1 and England routed Bulgaria 4-0.

The France players needed a good performance at Stade de France to win over fans following the debacle at the World Cup, when they refused to train and were knocked out in the first round.

But the team was jeered from the field in coach Laurent Blanc's first home match.

Vyacheslav Hleb set up the crucial goal when he weaved to the right of the penalty area and pulled the ball back for Kislyak, who beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a powerful shot into the top right corner.

The shock result means Bosnia-Herzegovina is the early Group D leader with a 3-0 win at Luxembourg. Romania and Albania drew 1-1 in the other match.