Nine Chelsea men were involved in full international action on Saturday, with three finding the net for their respective countries.

Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard both played the whole game as England ran out comfortable 5-1 winners against Kazakhstan on Saturday evening.

That victory leaves England with maximum points from three group games, with a trip to Belarus still to come on Wednesday.

Lampard was the provider for the second goal, his free-kick diverted into his own net by Alexandre Kuchma.

A rare mistake from Cole contributed to the Kazaks' goal, his stray backpass was latched on to by Zhambyl Kukeyev who slotted past David James.

Both players played the full 90 minutes, and could be joined by captain John Terry in midweek, who missed out on this game due to a back injury. Joe Cole is definitely ruled out, while Wayne Bridge was an unused sub.

Branislav Ivanovic continued his recent good fortune, following on from his Premier League debut against Aston Villa with the first goal in Serbia's 3-0 win over Lithuania.

The defender played the full 90 minutes, and earned much praise for his performance at right-back, and nearly scoring a second, hitting the post.

Germany captain Michael Ballack scored the decisive goal in their home game as Russia were beaten 2-1, adding to Lukas Podolski's opener in the 28th minute, sweeping home Bastian Schweinsteiger's cross.

Florent Malouda started but was withdrawn in the first half, as France clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to earn a point in Romania. Nicolas Anelka missed out with the injury he picked up against Aston Villa a week ago.

Paulo Ferreira and José Bosingwa both played the entire 90 minutes, keeping a clean sheet as Portugal earned a 0-0 draw in Sweden, without the injured Deco and Ricardo Carvalho.

As has become customary, Ferreira lined up on the left, with Bosingwa on the right.

In Africa, Salomon Kalou converted a second-half penalty as the Ivory Coast were 3-0 winners against Madagascar in Abidjan.

The only Chelsea man on the losing side in these full international fixtures was goalkeeper Petr Cech.

The Czechs are still without a win in qualification, and lost 2-1 in Poland, with Cech helpless to prevent a disappointing result that leaves their progression to the World Cup in question. The Czech Football Federation are reporting that the keeper is a doubt for Wednesday's game having suffered a thigh injury on Saturday. 

On loan Ben Sahar came on for the final seven minutes of Israel's 3-1 away win in Switzerland, the scoring having been completed.