Thierry Henry equalled Michel Platini's record number of goals for France as Les Bleus brushed aside the Faroe Islands 6-0 in Torshavn.
Henry struck in the eighth minute to put his side 2-0 ahead and join Platini, now president of UEFA, on 41 national team goals.
By that time, Nicolas Anelka had already scored for the visitors - who only landed in the Faroes hours before kick-off after fog delayed their arrival - and goals from Karim Benzema (two), Jerome Rothen and Hatem Ben Arfa completed the rout.
Les Bleus remain two points adrift of leaders Scotland in Group B, though, after another impressive win for Alex McLeish's men - 3-1 over Ukraine.
Scotland - who beat France 1-0 in Paris last month - were 2-0 up inside 10 minutes in Glasgow thanks to early goals from Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch.
Andriy Shevchenko pulled one back for the visitors midway through the first half but James McFadden, Scotland's hero in Paris, rounded things off with a powerful strike 22 minutes from time.
A Taavi Rahn own goal rounded off the scoring after 33 minutes.
Hungary claimed revenge over Malta with a dominant performance in Group C.
Robert Feczesin scored 11 minutes before half-time with a close-range header before Daniel Tozser doubled the advantage after 76 minutes with an exquisite 25-yard free-kick to avenge last October's 2-1 defeat on the Mediterranean island.
Slovakia recorded a highly impressive and confidence-boosting victory at home to San Marino in Group D.
Goals from Marek Hamsik, Stanislav Sestak (two), Marek Sapara, Martin Skrtl, Filip Holosko and Jan Durica completed a 7-0 rout for the hosts.
Serbia's qualification hopes suffered a blow as they could only draw 0-0 in Armenia, while the Group G basement boys Luxembourg claimed their first win of the campaign when Alphonse Leweck bagged the only goal of the game in Belarus deep into injury time.
Sweden took a giant step towards qualification with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Liechtenstein. Goals from Freddie Ljungberg, Christian Wilhelmsson and Anders Svensson gave Lars Lagerback's side all three points and means they travel to Spain knowing that a draw will effectively secure qualification from Group F.
Spain kept up the pressure on Sweden with a 3-1 in Denmark.
Goals from Raul Tamudo, Sergio Ramos and Albert Riera earned Spain a seventh win of the campaign, while Jon Dahl Tomasson scored for the hosts.
Maris Verpakovskis scored twice as Latvia secured an impressive 4-2 win over Iceland in Reykjavik. The home side had taken an early lead through Eidur Gudjohnsen but goals from Oskars Klava, Juris Laizans and Verpakovskis' double gave Latvia a 4-1 lead before Gudjohnsen scored a second-half consolation.
Ebi Smolarek's second-half hat-trick helped Poland to a 3-1 victory over Kazakhstan after trailing to a Dmitry Byakov goal. The result puts Poland four points clear of Portugal at the top of Group A.
Portugal kept their qualification hopes alive with a battling 2-0 win over Azerbaijan. The Euro 2004 runners-up came away with all three points thanks to goals from Bruno Alves and Hugo Almeida.
Finland missed the chance to go second as they were held to a goaless draw in Belgium.
Romania moved to the brink of qualification from Group G with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Holland to send them top of the table. Dorin Goian pounced in the 71st minute to clinch all three points for Romania and leave Holland looking anxiously over their shoulder at Bulgaria.
Slovenia and Albania played out a goaless draw in the same group.
Greece continued their domination of Group C with a 3-2 victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Goals from Angelos Charisteas, Theofanis Gekas and Nikos Liberopoulos gave the reigning European champions all three points at the Spyros Louis Stadium.
Turkey's hopes of qualification were severely dented with a 1-1 draw with Moldova. It could have been even worse for Turkey who were trailing for much of the game after Viorel Frunza had given the home side the lead after 11 minutes but they rescued a point thanks to a second-half Umit Karan goal.
Croatia squeezed past Israel 1-0 to consolidate their position at the top of Group E and keep them on course for Euro 2008 qualification. Eduardo Da Silva scored the only goal after 52 minutes.
Italy kept up the pressure on France and Scotland in Group B with a 2-0 win over Georgia. Goals from Andrea Pirlo and Fabio Grosso gave the Azzurri all three points.
