Euro 2016 qualifying review

Gareth Bale was Wales' saviour in Andorra

53 nations are battling for the remaining 23 places at Euro 2016. When you look at those numbers you have to fancy that many teams will be going to a major tournament for the first time in a while. Alex Johnson rounds up the news from the weekend.

The road to Euro 2016 is underway as 53 nations battle to join hosts France in the finals of the competition.

There were plenty of shocks in the first round of fixtures as some of Europe's World Cup representatives were dealt a harsh reality blow on their return to competitive action. World Cup semi-finalists Holland were left to rue a late error from Daryl Janmaat as they went down 2-1 to the Czech Republic in Group A. That defeat means that Guus Hiddink, now in his second spell as Holland manager after replacing Louis van Gaal, has opened with two straight defeats. He saw his side come back from going behind but Janmaat's mistake allowed Vaclav Pinar to seal the points.

Fortunately for the Dutch, one of their main rivals in Group A also went down to a shock defeat as Iceland thrashed Turkey 3-0 in Reykjavik. It was an emphatic win for Iceland as they beat the 10-man Turks through goals from Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to take top spot. The final game in Group A saw Kazakhstan and Latvia play out a goalless draw.

An even bigger shock took place in Group I where Albania, who are ranked 70th in the world, stunned Portugal to win 1-0 in Aveiro. Bekin Balaj's goal was enough for the minnows to beat a strong Portugal side, albeit without their star man Cristiano Ronaldo. After a poor World Cup, Portugal could have done with a strong start to qualifying but, even without Ronaldo, most would have expected the Euro 2012 semi-finalists to have enough quality to overcome Albania. In a Group that includes Denmark - who beat Armenia in Round 1 - and Serbia, Portugal now face playing catch-up after this loss.

In Group B, two goals from Dimitris Christofi gave the unfancied Cyprus a fantastic win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was Edin Dzeko's first game as captain and Bosnia were left to rue a late penalty miss from Miralen Pjanic. It all looked good for the hosts when they took an early lead, but goals in the 45th and 73rd minutes from Christofi gave Cyprus a memorable win.

There was almost another huge shock in that Group as Wales had to be thankful to Gareth Bale for two goals which saved them from embarrassment in Andorra. The tiny nation had gone ahead on six minutes with their first competitive goal in four years, but the world's most expensive footballer came to Wales' rescue. A first half header was followed by a fantastic free kick in the 81st minute to ensure Chris Coleman's side made a winning start to their qualifying campaign. It was an unconvincing performance on what was an abysmal artificial 3G surface, but Andorra - ranked 199th in the world and on a run of 44 consecutive competitive losses going into the game - made Wales work really hard for their points.

Overall, it was a good start to qualifying for most of the home nations. England made the perfect start as they bounced back from a poor World Cup to kick-off their Euro journey with a morale-boosting 2-0 win in Switzerland. Two goals from Danny Welbeck sealed all three points on a positive night for Roy Hodgson's side against a Swiss side that were expected to provide England's sternest test in the Group. Switzerland are ranked ninth in the world, compared to England at 20, yet the visitors opened them up with comparable ease. While England were thankful to two top saves from Joe Hart and a goal-line clearance from Gary Cahill, it was a much-improved performance all-round and this should put them in good stead for the rest of the qualifying campaign.

Northern Ireland also made a dream start as they shocked Hungary with two late goals to secure a come-from-behind win. It was a first away victory in four years, something that looked in doubt when Hungary went ahead with 15 minutes to go. However, late goals from Nial McGinn and Kyle Lafferty secured them a fantastic start in Group F and boss Michael O'Neill will take great encouragement from a strong display on the road.

Scotland were handed the toughest possible start to qualifying, as they travelled to take on newly-crowned world champions Germany. Gordon Strachan's side battled hard but ultimately went down 2-1. Thomas Muller's first half goal was cancelled out by Ikechi Anya after 66 minutes and at that point Scotland fans could have been forgiven for dreaming they could pull off the impossible. But they were only level for four minutes before Muller got his second of the game.

A one-goal defeat to the world champions is nothing to sniff at and Scotland did pose a number of problems for Germany on the night. Also in Group D, the Republic of Ireland were thankful to Aiden McGeady for a late winner to secure them three points against Georgia. The Everton winger got two goals in Tbilisi as the Republic sneaked a dramatic win. Up next for Ireland is a game with Gibraltar, who made their competitive debut in qualifying and got thumped 7-0 by Poland, before a meeting with Germany.

The reigning European champions, Spain, bounced back from their World Cup disappointments to stroll to a comfortable 5-1 victory over Macedonia. Fellow big-guns Italy also got off to a good start as Antonio Conte's side recorded a 2-0 win over Norway in his first competitive match in charge. There were also comfortable wins for Finland as they overcame the minnows of the Faroe Islands 3-1 and Russia, as they recovered from a poor World Cup performance to kick-off qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Liechtenstein.