Lionel Messi converted a 90th-minute penalty kick to give Argentina a dramatic 2-1 exhibition victory over Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, while France maintained its revival under coach Laurent Blanc with a 1-0 win over five-time world champion Brazil on Wednesday night.
Ronaldo scored a tying goal in the 21st minute equalizer in Geneva, but the Real Madrid forward was upstaged by his Barcelona rival, who set up Angel Di Maria for a 14th-minute goal and then converted the penalty kick following a foul by Fabio Coentrao on Javier Pastore.
World Cup and European champion Spain beat Colombia 1-0 on an 86th-minute goal by David Silva.
Karim Benzema scored for France in the 54th minute at Saint-Denis, the stadium where France beat Brazil 3-0 in the 1998 World Cup final. Brazil played a man short after Hernanes was ejected in the 40th minute for a challenge in which he kicked Benzema in the upper body.
Italy drew 1-1 in Germany, with New Jersey-born Giuseppe Rossi scoring in the 81st minute to offset a 17th-minute goal by Miroslav Klose.
England defeated Denmark 2-1 on goals by Aston Villa teammates Darren Bent in the 10th minute and Ashley Young in the 68th. Liverpool's Daniel Agger had put the Danes ahead in the eighth.
The United States' game at Egypt was canceled following political protests there.
Also on Wednesday, Javier Hernandez and Edgar Pacheco scored second-half goals to give Mexico a 2-0 exhibition win over Bosnia-Herzegovina in a successful debut for El Tri coach Jose Manuel de la Torre.
De la Torre was selected to replace Javier Aguirre after Mexico was eliminated from last year's World Cup by Argentina in the second round. De la Torre had coached Toluca, one of Mexico's most successful clubs in recent years.
At Geneva, the spotlight at the first match between Argentina and Portugal since 1972 was on Messi, the 2009 and 2010 FIFA player of the year, and Ronaldo, the 2008 player of the year. It was the
Messi's goal was his 16th goal in 54 international appearances.
"We always enjoy seeing two great players on the same field," Argentina coach Sergio Batista said. "I liked both of them tonight. Lionel was at a higher level."
France won its fifth straight game and built on the 2-1 victory at England in November. Benzema's goal was his 12th goal in 33 international appearances.
"The wins against England and Brazil should give us a lot more confidence individually and collectively," Blanc said. "I hope we can use it in the future for the important (2012 European Championship) qualifiers coming up."
Since beating the Netherlands in the World Cup final last July, Spain had played three exhibitions, a 1-1 tie at Mexico in August followed by a 4-1 loss at Argentina in September and a 4-0 defeat at Portugal in November.
During the same period, Spain went 3-0 in competitive matches by winning European Championship qualifiers at Liechtenstein (4-0), against Lithuania (3-1) and at Scotland (3-2).
"The most important thing was to win the game," Spain coach Vicente del Bosque said. "Whether we played well or not, the effort by the players was there."
Germany and Italy played in Dortmund, where the Azzurri beat the hosts 2-0 in overtime in the 2006 World Cup semifinals. Rossi said his goal was for his dad, Fernando Rossi.
"I dedicate it to my father, who died last year," Rossi told Raisport.
Fernando Rossi, who in 23 seasons built the soccer team from New Jersey's Clifton High School into an area power, died last Feb. 23 at age 60.
It was the fourth goal in 19 international appearances for the 24-year-old Rossi, who was born in Teaneck and chose to play for the Azzurri rather than the United States. He scored his first international goal against Northern Ireland in an exhibition on June 6, 2009, then had two goals against the Americans nine days later at the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Dirk Kuyt scored for the Netherlands in a 3-1 victory over Austria. The night's most surprising result saw 131st-ranked Luxembourg upset 20th-ranked Slovakia 2-1.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.