The International break is a manager's nightmare across the European leagues, but the round of World Cup qualifiers last night at least provided great entertainment to football fans across the world. The big guns enjoyed a stroll in the park as victories by huge margins were the theme of the night, with England, Spain, Germany and Netherlands all notched up massive wins. England moved atop Group H after their 5-0 thumping of San Marino while Germany hammered Republic of Ireland 6-1 in Group C. The Spanish Armada rolled along with a 4-0 triumph over Belarus, but their Iberian rivals Portugal had an evening to forget as they were shocked 1-0 by Russia. The Dutch secured an important 3-0 win at Andorra to stay ahead of Romania in Group D while in Group A, Scotland were undone 2-1 by rivals Wales in dramatic fashion.

Wayne Rooney responded to being handed the captain's armband by netting a brace at Wembley to help England get back on track after their draw with Ukraine in the previous round. Rooney opened the scoring from the penalty spot ten minutes before the break and his strike was soon followed by Danny Welbeck's goal as the Man United pair came to the fore. The pair again scored in quick succession after the break as England went 4-0 up by the 71^st minute, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain rounding off the scoring with his 1^st senior goal for the Three Lions. England's comfortable combined with Ukraine's draw against Moldova puts them in pole position in Group H, three points ahead of Montenegro who have a game in hand.

Juan Mata might be the star of the show at Chelsea right now but the diminutive attacker continues to be frustrated on the International stage as he was omitted from Spain’s squad for the upcoming qualifiers. The 24 year old has been in hot form for Chelsea, scoring a brace in the Champions League in mid-week to add to his two assists in the win against Arsenal last weekend.

But Vicent Del Bosque hasn’t picked the ex-Valencia man in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Belarus and France and he explained his decision to Sky Sports: “We could not find him a place. We have enough players for the games. We have chosen those that we think are the best to compete in these matches."

The business of World Cup qualification continued to be a tricky affair for Europe's big guns, and though almost all the major teams (with the exception of England) regisitered wins, some of them certainly did not come easy.

World Champions Spain dominated their match against Georgia in Tbilisi, but needed to wait till the 86th minute to get the winning goal as Cesc Fabregas set-up Roberto Soldado to poke the ball home. Spain were far from their best on the night, creating barely a handful of chances, and fortunate not to be behind when Alexander Amisulashvili struck the woodwork.

The long, winding road to Brazil 2014 began in earnest last night as the European leg of the World Cup qualifiers kicked-off. All the big guns endured a happy night but for Italy as the 2012 Euro finalists were held to a 2-2 draw by Bulgaria. England thrashed Moldova 5-0 while their great rivals France edged Finland 1-0. Germany strolled to a 3-0 victory over the Faroe Islands while their arch-enemies Holland began their campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Turkey. Finally, Russia and Portugal also opened their accounts with a victory a piece while Bosnia and Herzegovina provided the fireworks on the night by hammering Liechtenstein 8-1.

England kick-started yet another campaign for a major tournament with promising signs as Roy Hodgson’s outfit struck five past Group H opponents Moldova. Frank Lampard netted a brace, with his first coming from the penalty box on 4 minutes before he made it 2-0 on 29 minutes. Jermain Defoe then broke open the floodgates three minutes later, turning in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s cross with ease. Steve Gerrard hobbled off at the end of the 1^st half but England continued to press as James Milner added a 4^th on 74 minutes before the scoring was rounded-off by Leighton Baines’ free-kick on 83 minutes.

Holland have turned to Louis van Gaal to take over the National team until the 2014 World Cup as the Dutch FA have moved quickly to appoint a successor to Bert van Marwijk, who left the job following the team's horror show at the Euros. This would be Van Gaal's 2nd stint at the job as he was in-charge of the team between 2000 and 2002. Although it marked one of the lowest points in recent Dutch history as they failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup.

The 60 year old veteran manager has been on the lookout for a job ever since departing Bayern Munich last year and considering his vast experience, which includes spells at Ajax, Barcelona and AZ Alkmaar, the Dutch will hope that they can turn a corner with the man who was once a gymnastics teacher.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) have 3 direct places for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 1 spot up for grabs through a play-off with the Oceania winner. 30 teams entered the qualifying pot on Satuday to stake a claim for a flight to Brazil in 2014.

The CONCACAF region's draw began with the 2nd Round as the teams lower down the pecking order discovered their fate. The draw then headed to the final Group Stage, where USA, Costa Rica, Mexico, Jamaica, Honduras and Cuba eagerly waited.