The repeat of the 2002 FIFA World Cup final between Germany and Brazil saw a quiet first-half in Stuttgart, but the match exploded into life in the last 30 minutes as the hosts won 3-2.
Bastian Schweinsteiger's 61st-minute penalty put Germany into the lead, and six minutes later highly rated Borussia Dortmund 19-year-old Mario Gotze doubled the Germans' lead.
Brazil striker Robinho quickly equalised from the penalty spot, but Andre Schurrle responded with 10 minutes to play as Germany restored their two-goal advantage.
An injury time strike from in-demand forward Neymar brought Brazil within one goal, but Joachim Loew's side held on for a deserved victory.
In Bari, Alberto Aquilani's winner with six minutes to play saw Italy surprise Spain 2-1.
Riccardo Montolivo gave the hosts an 11th minute lead but Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso equalised from the penalty spot eight minutes before half-time.
With both sides fielding strong teams, an exciting second half was to follow before Aquilani's late strike.
France extended their unbeaten run to 11 matches with a 1-1 draw against Chile, although they would have won in Montpellier if it were not for Nicolas Cordova's equaliser with 14 minutes to play.
Leeds attacker Robert Snodgrass struck the winner in Scotland's 2-1 win over Denmark in Glasgow, while goals to Tim Cahill and Robbie Kruse gave Australia a win by the same scoreline against Wales in Cardiff.
The Republic of Ireland and Croatia played out a scoreless stalemate in Dublin, Sweden edged Ukraine 1-0, Switzerland beat Liechtenstein 2-1, Romania struggled to a 1-0 win in San Marino and Poland won by the same scoreline against Georgia.
Slovakia won 2-1 in Austria, Turkey were too good for Estonia 3-0, Oman drew with Bahrain 1-1, Malta beat the Central African Republic 2-1 and Slovenia and Belgium played out a scoreless draw.
Japan accounted for South Korea 3-0, China beat Jamaica 1-0 courtesy of a Zhao Peng strike, while Kazakhstan drew 1-1 with 10-man Syria.
Inter Milan's Goran Pandev scored the winner for Macedonia in their 1-0 win over Azerbaijan, Russia beat Serbia 1-0 in Moscow and Lithuania smashed 10-man Armenia 3-0.
Centre-back Ilyan Stoyanov's own goal handed Belarus a 1-0 victory over Bulgaria, Ivory Coast held on for a thrilling 4-3 victory over Israel while Finland beat Latvia 2-0 away from home.
Cyprus midfielder Sinisa Dobrasinovic scored in the 90th minute to complete his nation's come-from-behind 3-2 win over Moldova.
Albania beat Montenegro 3-2, Hungary had four different goalscorers in their 4-0 rout of Iceland in Budapest, and Norway accounted for the Czech Republic 3-0.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece and Kuwait and North Korea played scoreless draws, while South Africa beat Burkina Faso 3-0 and Zimbabwe triumphed over Zambia 2-0.
Gambia were 3-0 winners against the Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal lost 2-0 at home to Morocco, Botswana defeated Kenya 1-0, Gabon drew with Guinea 1-1 and Niger and Togo took part in a six-goal thriller which ended 3-3.
Portugal
had little trouble beating Luxembourg, with Helder Postiga, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Fabio Coentrao and Hugo Almeida (twice) finding the net in a
5-0 thumping.
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