Wayne Rooney celebrated his 100th cap with the English national team, only the ninth player to earn such an honor, with a goal and a victory over Slovenia at Wembley Stadium.

England shot themselves on the foot in the second half, giving up an own-goal after Liverpool's Jordan Henderson put the ball into his own net trying to clear out a Slovenian corner-kick in the 57th minute. But Rooney would bail out England two minutes later, nailing a penalty shot after he was hacked in the box by Bostjan Cesar to tie up the game 1-1. Arsenal's Danny Welbeck would take over the game, scoring goals in the 65th and 72nd minute of the match to seal a 3-1 victory in front of the home crowd.

"It was tough because they took the lead and we had to show our character," said Rooney after the game. "But that will be good for us as a team. Since the World Cup we haven't seen that. After they went ahead we really woke up and showed what a good team we are."

The win leaves England in first place in Group E, with 12 points, while Slovenia sinks to third place with six points. Bayern Munich winger Xherdan Shaqiri's two goals over Lithuania helped Switzerland stay in second place with six points. Lithuania stays stuck in fourth place with the loss despite ending the day with six points, with points differential separating them from the Swiss and Slovenia in the standings. Rounding out Group E, Estonia, currently stuck in fifth place with four points, managed only a draw against last-place San Marino (one point).

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Spain had an easier day with help from Isco, Sergio Busquets and Pedro beating an over-matched Belarus team 3-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Spain played without Andreas Iniesta, David Silva, Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa and Dani Carvajal, leaving the team in second place in Group C with nine points while Belarus stays mired a fifth place with a single point.

Slovakia maintained their lead in Group C finishing the day with 12 points after beating fourth-place Macedonia (three points) 2-0 thanks to goals by Adam Nemec and Juraj Kucka. Ukraine kept their Euro 2016 hopes alive, hanging on to third place with nine points, thanks to Dynamo Kiev forward Andriy Yarmolenko who scored all three of Ukraine's goals against last place Luxembourg, beating them 3-0 on the road in Stade Josy Barthel.

The big surprise of Saturday's Euro 2016 qualifiers was Austria defeating Russia 1-0 at home in Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna. Austria's Rubin Okotie, striker for 2 Bundesliga's 1860 Munich, blasted a shot past CSKA Moscow keeper Igor Akinfeev in the 73rd minute to give Austria the 1-0 win.

Russia's national team is in a bit of turmoil, with national team head coach Fabio Capello not having been in five months and Russian soccer officials unhappy with the results he has brought to the team since taking over the squad. Russia failed to win a single World Cup match in Brazil. And despite suffering only their first loss of the Euro 2016 qualifiers to first-place Austria (10 points) on Saturday, they are stuck in third place in Group G.

"As the former chairman of [Russia's] Accounts Chamber, I believe you should pay for results," said Sergei Stepashin, a member of the Russian executive committee, to the BBC. "This would be a more effective use of funds."

Second-place Sweden (six points) saw the return of Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, returning from a heel injury, back to action after recovering from a heel injury. Ibrahimovic scored in the 9th minute of the match against fourth-place Montenegro. But Manchester City's Stevan Jovetic tied the game 1-1 with a penalty kick after Sweden's Oscar Wendt hacked Vladimir Jovovic in the box to end the match in a draw.

Montenegro vs Sweden

Liechtenstein rounds out Group G, getting out the cellar after ending the day with four points with a win on the road against Moldova. Liechtenstein's Franz Burgmeier rocketed a free kick in the 79th minute Moldova keeper Ilie Cebanu to win the game 1-0.

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