Netherlands came from behind against 10-man Kazakhstan to secure an unconvincing 3-1 win at home in Group A on Friday night.
The Dutch, who finished third at this summer's World Cup, went behind to a headed goal from Renat Abdulin in the 18th minute. And the team ranked 127th in the world went into the break 1-0 ahead.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar struck with a header of his own on 62 minutes to level the scores and Netherlands' job got easier when Baurzhan Dzholchiev was sent off for a horrible tackle from behind on Ibrahim Afellay.
The injury prone Afellay got up and punished the Kazakhstan side in the worst way as his left-footed shot in the 82 minute took a big deflection to wrongfoot Alexandr Mokin before Robin van Persie struck home a last-minute penalty to seal the win.
Italy also struggled but came away with a 2-1 win against lowly Azerbaijan in Group H.
Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini had a hand in all three goals as he headed the Azzurri into the lead on 44 minutes, before putting through his own net on 77.
However, Chiellini got on the end of another cross to head Italy up once more with nine minutes remaining.
Belgium hardly missed Eden Hazard as they routed Andorra 6-0 to get their qualifying campaign started with a bang.
Although Hazard sat the match out with a toe injury, braces from Kevin De Bruyne and Dries Mertens, plus strikes from Nacer Chadli and Divock Origi ensured a comfortable night for under-pressure coach Marc Wilmots.
However, there was one concerning moment to blot an otherwise fine night, with Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany withdrawn with an injury early in the second half.
Wales won a hard-fought point against Bosnia-Herzegovina as their Group B qualifier in Cardiff finished in a goalless stalemate.
Both sides had chances to win the game in a frenetic second period, with Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey making several excellent saves. Gareth Bale saw his late effort saved by Asmir Begovic in the Bosnian goal while Ashley Williams and Hal Robson-Kanu spurned headed opportunities.
The Czech Republic made it two wins from two in Group A with a 2-1 win over Turkey in Istanbul.
Umut Bulut put Turkey ahead early but Tomas Sivok grabbed an equaliser and Borek Dockal grabbed the winner to send the Czechs joint top of the table. It is a different story for Turkey who have yet to claim a point under new boss Claudio Ranieri who may already be feeling the pressure.
Iceland netted a second successive 3-0 win to start their qualifying campaign.
Second-half goals from Gylfi Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson and Rurik Gislason saw 10-man Latvia - Artjoms Rudnevs dismissed when the game was still goalless - dispatched by the same scoreline as Turkey before them.
The result left Iceland level on points with the Czech Republic at the Group A summit and ended Latvia's run of four games without either losing or conceding a goal.
Blackburn forward Joshua King scored twice as Norway completed a comfortable 3-0 Group H win away to Malta.
The visitors took the lead on 21 minutes when Cardiff teenager Mats Moller Daehli converted a low cross from King. The Blackburn forward made it 2-0 soon after when he sprinted into the left side of the Malta penalty area before slotting home.
Malta, who lost 2-0 against Croatia in their first qualifier, tried to mount a fightback as Clayton Failla and Michael Mifsud both tested Norway goalkeeper Orjan Haskjold. There was, though, to be no recovery as King headed in a third goal at the start of the second half from a deep cross by captain Per Ciljan Skjelbred.
Israel opened their Group B qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Cyprus in Nicosia.
Omer Damari put the visitors ahead on 38 minutes, with Tal Ben Haim adding a second just before the break. Cyprus -- who recorded an impressive away win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in their first qualifier- - rallied and reduced the deficit through Konstantinos Makridis on 67 minutes, but could not find an equaliser.
With the help of an own goal Croatia made it two wins out of two to start their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 win over Bulgaria.
Bulgaria did well to stifle the Croatian attack for much of the night, but gifted the visitors the only goal they needed when Fulham's Nikolay Bodurov headed into this own net in the 36th minute.