Tonight we stand at the foothills of a mountain, a mountain commonly known as World Cup qualifying. These are the first games of the European group stage, so it’s a blank slate. As of this moment, there is nothing to separate England from Andorra, or Germany from Lichtenstein. The final games are due to be played on the week of 14 November, with play-offs to follow another absolutely ages later (they will be played on this very week next year, some of them precisely 12 months hence, ahead of the finals draw next April) involving the 10 group runners-up and a couple of teams that do badly in qualifying but better in the Nations League, which will yield World Cup places for three of them. We are very much in marathon-not-sprint territory here. Here’s a quick run-through of tonight’s fixtures (7.45pm GMT kick-offs unless specified):
Group B
Sweden v Georgia
Sweden: Nordfeldt, Lustig, Lindelof, Helander, Augustinsson, Kulusevski, Olsson, Larsson, Claesson, Isak, Ibrahimovic. Subs: Quaison, Ekdal, Karlsson, Cajuste, Starfelt, Sema, Bengtsson, Johnsson, Krafth, Svanberg, Olsen, Forsberg.
Georgia: Loria, Chabradze, Kashia, Dvali, Giorbelidze, Kankava, Aburjania, Lobzhanidze, Kvekveskiri, Kvaratskhelia, Kvilitaia. Subs: Mamardashvili, Azouz, Gvilia, Shengelia, Beridze, Tabidze, Kakabadze, Grigalava, Zivzivadze, Kiteishvili, Kupatadze, Mikautadze.
Spain v Greece
Spain: Simon, Marcos Llorente, Sergio Ramos, Garcia, Gaya, Canales, Rodri, Koke, Torres, Morata, Olmo. Subs: Sanchez, Porro, Diego Llorente, Gil Salvatierra, Fabian, de Gea, Thiago, Busquets, Martinez, Oyarzabal, Jordi Alba, Gonzalez.
Greece: Vlachodimos, Bakakis, Papadopoulos, Tzavelas, Tsimikas, Mandalos, Zeca, Bouchalakis, Limnios, Bakasetas, Masouras. Subs: Svarnas, Kyriakopoulos, Mavropanos, Kapino, Dioudis, Fortounis, Giakoumakis, Mavrias, Siopis, Androutsos, Pavlidis, Tzolis.
Group C
Bulgaria v Switzerland (5pm)
Italy v Northern Island
Italy: Donnarumma, Florenzi, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson Palmieri, Pellegrini, Locatelli, Verratti, Berardi, Immobile, Insigne. Subs: Belotti, Di Lorenzo, Chiesa, Pessina, Grifo, Mancini, Spinazzola, Barella, Acerbi, Bernardeschi, Sirigu, Cragno.
Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell, Smith, Cathcart, Jonny Evans, Dallas, McNair, Corry Evans, McCann, Davis, Whyte, Magennis. Subs: Lavery, McGinn, Ballard, Saville, Thompson, Brown, Hughes, Ferguson, Hazard, McLaughlin, Lafferty, Kennedy.
Group F
Israel v Denmark (5pm)
Moldova v Faroe Islands
Moldova: Namasco, Posmac, Epureanu, Armas, Jardan, Ionita, Carp, Reabciuk, Nicolaescu, Rata, Damascan. Subs: Bolohan, Dragan, Koselev, Belousov, Dumbravanu, Arhirii, Caimacov, Postolachi, Antoniuc, Cojocari, Celeadnic, Iosipoi.
Faroe Islands: Nielsen, Sorensen, Faero, Nattestad, Davidsen, Solvi Vatnhamar, Hansson, Gunnar Vatnhamar, Brandur Olsen, Klaemint Olsen, Edmundsson. Subs: Soylu, Meinhard Olsen, Andreasen, Johannesen, Thomsen, Danielsen, Bjartalid, Vatnsdal, Gestsson, Jensen, Baldvinsson, Jonsson.
Scotland v Austria
Scotland: Marshall, O’Donnell, Hendry, Hanley, Robertson, McGinn, McTominay, Tierney, Armstrong, Dykes, Christie. Subs: Gallagher, Palmer, McLean, McKenna, Fleck, Nisbet, McBurnie, Fraser, Adams, Gordon, McGregor, McLaughlin.
Austria: Alexander Schlager, Lainer, Dragovic, Lienhart, Alaba, Baumgartner, Ilsanker, Grillitsch, Xaver Schlager, Grbic, Kalajdzic. Subs: Trauner, Gregoritsch, Ulmer, Schaub, Friedl, Lindner, Trimmel, Sabitzer, Onisiwo, Schopf, Ranftl, Pervan.
Group I
Andorra v Albania
Andorra: Gomes, Jesus Rubio, Llovera, Vales, Moises San Nicolas, Alexandre Martinez, Rebes, Marcio Vieira, Cervos, Alaez, Fernandez. Subs: Rodrigues, Luigi San Nicolas, Moreno, Emili Garcia, Pujol, Sanchez, Clemente, Alavedra, Marc Garcia, Cristian Martinez.
Albania: Berisha, Djimsiti, Ismajli, Kumbulla, Hysaj, Memushaj, Bare, Gjasula, Lenjani, Cikalleshi, Manaj. Subs: Laci, Roshi, Ajeti, Doka, Uzuni, Selmani, Memolla, Ramadani, Veseli, Strakosha, Broja, Kamberi.
Hungary v Poland
Hungary: Gulacsi, Fiola, Orban, Attila Szalai, Lovrencsics, Kleinheisler, Nagy, Kalmar, Hangya, Sallai, Adam Szalai. Subs: Toth, Nikolic, Schafer, Lang, Gazdag, Roland Varga, Siger, Dibusz, Botka, Kevin Varga, Cseri, Nego.
Poland: Szczesny, Bereszynski, Bednarek, Helik, Reca, Szymanski, Krychowiak, Moder, Zielinski, Lewandowski, Milik. Subs: Dawidowicz, Placheta, Fabianski, Kozlowski, Piatkowski, Jozwiak, Augustyniak, Glik, Grosicki, Piatek, Rybus, Skorupski.
England v San Marino
England: Pope, James, Coady, Stones, Chilwell, Phillips, Ward-Prowse, Lingard, Mount, Sterling, Calvert-Lewin. Subs: Johnstone, Rice, Mings, Henderson, Kane, Foden, Dier, Shaw, Maguire, Watkins, Trippier, Bellingham.
San Marino: Elia Benedettini, Manuel Battistini, Brolli, Rossi, Grandoni, Lunadei, Golinucci, Jose Hirsch, Berardi, Palazzi, Nicola Nanni. Subs: Giardi, D’Addario, Ceccaroli, Zonzini, Michael Battistini, Luca Nanni, Simone Benedettini, Conti, Fabbri, Stimac, Mularoni, Zafferani.
Group J
Liechtenstein v Armenia
Liechtenstein: Buchel, Malin, Kaufmann, Sele, Hofer, Yildiz, Meier, Hasler, Goppel, Noah Frick, Yanik Frick. Subs: Sandro Wolfinger, Justin Ospelt, Beck, Frommelt, Martin Marxer, Fabio Wolfinger, Hobi, Brandle, Alexander Marxer, Grunenfelder, Vogt, Philipp Ospelt.
Armenia: Yurchenko, Hambardzumyan, Calisir, Haroyan, Kamo Hovhannisyan, Barseghyan, Udo, Artak Grigoryan, Bayramyan, Adamyan, Briasco. Subs: Kocharyan, Shagoyan, Serob Grigoryan, Karapetyan, Bichakhchyan, Ishkhanyan, Miranyan, Babayan, Beglaryan, Voskanyan, Aivazov, Muradyan.
Romania v North Macedonia
Romania: Nita, Popescu, Chiriches, Burca, Bancu, Marin, Stanciu, Man, Tanase, Coman, Keseru. Subs: Maxim, Puscas, Camora, Mihaila, Tosca, Bicfalvi, Lazar, Cicaldau, Radu, Hagi, Nedelcearu, Mogos.
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Bejtulai, Musliu, Ristevski, Ristovski, Nikolov, Bardhi, Alioski, Elmas, Pandev, Nestorovski. Subs: Velkoski, Avramovski, Stojanovski, Hasani, Ademi, Siskovski, Bogatinov, Trajkovski, Radeski, Spirovski, Ibraimi, Askovski.
Germany v Iceland
Germany: Neuer, Klostermann, Rudiger, Ginter, Can, Goretzka, Kimmich, Gundogan, Sane, Gnabry, Havertz. Subs: Max, Wirtz, ter Stegen, Werner, Musiala, Younes, Trapp, Tah, Neuhaus.
Iceland: Halldorsson, Sampsted, Ingason, Arnason, Magnusson, Gunnarsson, Bjarnason, Sigurjonsson, Palsson, Traustason, Bodvarsson. Subs: Runarsson, Arnor Sigurdsson, Skulason, Albert Gudmundsson, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Sigthorsson, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Eyjolfsson, Kristinsson, Fridjonsson, Hermannsson.