UEFA World Cup qualifying winners and losers: England collect easy victory; high note for Germany's Low

World Cup qualifying is up and running across Europe with Matchday 1 done and dusted. Here are the winners and losers..

Winner: Joachim Low

The beginning of the end of this particular era in German footballing history augurs well for the future. Low, who will leave Die Mannschaft after this summer's European Championships, named a side that was particularly reflective of his tenure with no natural striker and a versatile front man that had Leroy Sane as something approximating a wing-back, although against Iceland the Bayern Munich star could largely operate as high up the pitch as he wanted.

It was a breathless, elegant and invigorating start from Germany, who ripped through their visitors twice in the opening seven minutes. First Serge Gnabry teed up Leon Gortezka to strike low from the edge of the box before Kai Havertz, who had the swagger that he has struggled to find consistently in a Chelsea shirt, curled an excellent shot through two Icelandic defenders and beyond Hannes Haldorson. 

Crucially having those goals in the bag early on allowed Germany to take their foot off the pedal ahead of a trip to Bucharest for what may be the toughest test of the World Cup qualifying group as they eased towards a 3-0 win, Ilkay Gundogan carrying his Manchester City scoring form onto the international stage with a smart finish from just inside the box.

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This was not necessarily a young German side but with none of the outfielders over 30 and only one, Joshua Kimmich, had more than 50 caps to his name. There was a freshness to this team, a sense that Low is blooding players for the benefit of his successor, whoever that might be.

Loser: The English viewing public

Of course no England fan would be sniffing at starting their journey to Qatar 2022 with three points but those who sat down to watch Gareth Southgate's side begin their qualification campaign against San Marino learned new levels of tedium, enough to make you wish ITV had just stuck Piers Morgan's Life Stories on instead. OK, not quite that bad. 

It is not that the Three Lions did not play well nor that fringe players such as James Ward-Prowse did not do all that could have been expected of them. Simply it is not all that rewarding to watch an 11 attackers versus 11 defenders' training exercise.

That is what this game was as the best homegrown talent (well almost) that the richest league in the world had to offer took on the representatives of a nation with the population of Wildwood, Missouri. For some it is a matter for debate as to whether minnows like San Marino should even get the same chance to qualify for the World Cup as England, one perhaps brought on by the nature of this contest.

The contest was over before it had begun and England did their job clinically enough on their way to a 5-0 win. Brisk running down the left by Ben Chilwell, who for all the caveats that it was only San Marino will feel he did all he can to make his case for starting over Luke Shaw comes the Euros, teed up James Ward-Prowse for his first international goal. He was joined by debutant Ollie Watkins, two players who will never forget San Marino's visit. Mason Mount showed he'll press energetically whatever the opposition as he won the ball high and teed up captain Raheem Sterling for a goal.

It just all felt a little dull. That is not to say that teams like England shouldn't have to play against San Marino. Just that you wouldn't want to watch it if you did not have to.

Winner: Greece

Well of course the Greeks weren't quite victors in Granada but a 1-1 draw away to Spain will feel like a precious triumph even if it only comes with one point.

This was one-sided football to the extreme. By halftime Sergio Ramos had completed 100 passes, 16 more than the entire Greek side. It was not until the 57th minute that the visitors finally had a shot on Unai Simon's goal but it was a high probability shot, Inigo Martinez having let the ball run dangerously in his box and brought down Giorgos Masouras, allowing Anastasios Bakasetas to cancel out Alvaro Morata's opener.

The truth is Spain had not really created the chances to carve out much more than Morata's 33rd-minute strike. They pressed well, moved the ball quickly but did not look like charming their way through Greece's disciplined defensive lines. Odysseas Vlachodimos might note that he only had one save to make and that this game was as much about the team in blue defending exceptionally well as it was any failings by Spain. 

Europe's footballing giants have not had it all their own way on Matchday 1 and Spain will at least have company in their misery after France were held to a home draw by Ukraine and Croatia lost in Slovenia. Neither of those were the standout result of the round however...

Loser: Frank de Boer

Time is on the Netherlands' side, but a 4-2 defeat in Istanbul leaves them in quite the quandary in a difficult group that includes Turkey and a flourishing Norway side led by Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland. The Dutch may have reached the final of the Nations League in 2019 but they are still not quite the force of past decades without Virgil van Dijk, whose absence took their defense from authoritative to shaky even if it did still have Matthijs De Ligt.

There is of course another significant change from the 2019 finalists with Ronald Koeman having left for Barcelona to be replaced by Frank de Boer, whose managerial travails show no sign of easing on the international stage. The 50-year-old's record with the Netherlands reads 3-3-3 since his appointment with those wins coming against Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina, teams that like Turkey the Dutch would expect to beat.

Had Donyell Malen taken his chances early in the first half the result may have been different. The same could be said over the goalkeeper with Tim Krul stepping in for Jaspen Cillesen after the Valencia man was injured in the warm-up. But De Boer knows that these do not constitute sufficient excuses for a nation that expects much more than one successful qualification from the last three major tournaments.

"This is a very bad result, but it was only the first of the 10 so we now have to make sure we don't spill more points," said De Boer after the game. "This was a good opponent, but certainly not one that we had to lose to."

Winner: Tomas Soucek

It should not be that much of a surprise that Soucek found the net on international duty. He has been doing so often enough for his club, scoring 12 Premier League goals since his move to West Ham United in January 2020, a tally that only 16 players have bettered and none of them defensive midfielders. Little wonder he was named Czech player of the year earlier this week, beating Hammers teammate Vladimir Coufal to the prize.

For all that he is getting into the habit of scoring goals this was a landmark moment in his career, the first hat trick he has scored for the Czech national team as they romped to a 6-2 win in an away game against Estonia played in Poland. The opener was what might be considered classic Soucek, a flicked header at the near post, but the other goals were a reminder there is more to his game than just height. His second came with a well-placed if questionably hit right-footed drive, his perfect hat trick came as he maneuvered himself into position to tap into an empty net with his left boot.

The ability to find that space in the box, Soucek explained in an exclusive interview with CBS Sports last month, are extensively honed on the West Ham training pitches. "I want to develop my space and I want to go ahead like a free player and score the free header or the free shot," he said. "So it is why I am [always moving]. When I want to receive the ball I have to do movements because if I stay under the line of play everyone covers me and I don't have space."

Three points away to Estonia might have been expected for the Czech Republic but these are the sorts of games that could be crucial for Soucek and company as they battle with Wales for what will likely be second place behind Belgium (3-1 winners over the Welsh in their Group E opener). A convincing win in their opening game gives the Czechs momentum and a welcome points cushion before they face the Belgians and travel to Cardiff later in the break.