London, November 16:

Cyprus held three-time champion Germany to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday in European Championship qualifying, and Eduardo da Silva scored a hat trick to give Croatia a 4-3 win over Israel.

Michael Ballack gave Germany the lead in the 16th minute at Cyprus, and it appeared that the Germans were on their way to a fourth victory in a row in Group D. But Yiannakis Okkas levelled for the Cypriots.

Despite dropping two unexpected points, Germany is tied with the Czech Republic, which drew 1-1 against Denmark in a friendly, for first place. Cyprus is tied for fourth with Ireland, which outplayed San Marino 5-0 in Dublin. Robbie Keane scored three goals for the Irish.

There were seven Euro 2008 qualifying matches and 17 friendlies on Wednesday, including England’s 1-1 draw at the Netherlands; Brazil’s 2-1 victory at Switzerland; World Cup champions Italy’s 1-1 draw against visiting Turkey; France’s 1-0 victory over European champion Greece off a goal from Thierry Henry; and hosts Spain’s 1-0 loss to Romania.