England produced a stirring finish to rally from two goals down but a late goal from Arjen Robben handed Netherlands a 3-2 win.
Stuart Pearce's side looked set for a hiding when falling behind to goals from Robben and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, but they drew level thanks to goals from Gary Cahill and Ashley Young. However, in injury time, Robben had the last word as his deflected shot beat Joe Hart to hand the World Cup finalists the win.
USA pulled off an historic first 1-0 win over Italy in their friendly in Genoa.
Fulham striker Clint Dempsey's 55th-minute goal was the difference between the two sides at the Luigi Ferraris stadium. The Azzurri had numerous chances to equalise but were denied by some good goalkeeping from Everton's Tim Howard.
The Americans, who had failed to beat Italy in their previous ten attempts, claimed their fourth straight win under coach Jurgen Klinsmann, while Italy suffered their second straight loss after defeat against Uruguay in November.
France gave Germany a reality-check in Bremen, as Laurent Blanc's side grabbed a 2-1 away victory over one of the Euro 2012 favourites.
Germany were without a couple of key players, but the manner of the French performance was particularly impressive. Midway through the first-half France were ahead, as Mathieu Debuchy broke down the right flank before delivering the ball on a plate for Montpellier forward Olivier Giroud to turn home.
Then in the 70th minute, France's organised approach brought further rewards as Giroud this time turned provider for Florent Malouda. Germany were frustrated by the compactness of the French side and, although they bagged a last-minute consolation through substitute striker Cacau, there is much that Joachim Low's side can learn from the encounter looking ahead to the summer.
Roberto Soldado pushed his Euro 2012 claims with a hat-trick in Spain's 5-0 win over ten-man Venezuela.
In the absence of regular strikers David Villa and Fernando Torres, the Valencia man shone, and could even afford to miss a 66th-minute penalty.
Andres Iniesta and David Silva had already fired Spain 2-0 ahead before Soldado took over in the second half. Venezuela had Fernando Amorebieta sent off before Soldado missed his spot kick.
Switzerland looked to be capable of springing a shock against Argentina until just minutes from time, when Lionel Messi scored twice late on to complete his hat-trick and give the South Americans a 3-1 win.
Messi had given Argentina an early lead, finishing past Diego Benaglio from Sergio Aguero's return pass in fine fashion. However, that was the cue for Switzerland to drag themselves back into the game, with Basel pair Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri central. Eren Derdiyok inadvertently created the goal moments after half-time, miskicking his shot to Shaqiri, who fired home past Romero.
Both sides pressed for a winner, but nothing was forthcoming until Messi's intervention in the final minutes. A delicious 87th minute chipped finish was followed by a penalty in injury-time to give the superstar his first hat-trick in international football.
Substitute Simon Cox denied Czech Republic victory in Dublin as Republic of Ireland fought back to claim a 1-1 draw.
Galatasaray frontman Milan Baros had put the visitors ahead five minutes into the second half as Michal Bilek's men finally made the pressure tell but Cox, a 71st-minute replacement for skipper Robbie Keane, struck with just four minutes remaining to send a crowd of 37,741 home happy.
Wales were unable to mark the Gary Speed Memorial Match with a victory as Joel Campbell's early goal gave Costa Rica a 1-0 win on an emotional night at Cardiff City Stadium.
Campbell, on loan at Lorient from Arsenal, scored the only goal in the seventh minute as he calmly slotted home from Bryan Ruiz's superb pass.
Striker Steve Morison went closest to an equaliser for Wales as his first-half header struck the bar before landing on the line and being cleared, while captain Craig Bellamy and Hal Robson-Kanu also had chances on a night when the principality remembered one of its most cherished figures.
Uruguay equalled their longest ever unbeaten run of 14 games as they drew 1-1 in Romania. Edinson Cavani's third-minute opener was cancelled out by Bogdan Stancu on 49 minutes.
Substitute Sebastian Larsson scored twice as Sweden beat Croatia 3-1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (13 pen) opened the scoring before a Jonas Olsson own goal (44) levelled matters.
Christophe Berra's first-half header gave Scotland a solid if uninspiring 1-1 draw against Slovenia in their friendly international at the Bonifika stadium.
After James Morrison saw his close-range shot pushed onto the post by home goalkeeper and captain Samir Handanovic, midfielder Andraz Kirm gave Slovenia the lead in the 32nd minute with a header from a Miso Brecko cross.
However, seven minutes later the Scots were back on level terms with a similar goal when Berra buried the ball past Handanovic from Charlie Adam's corner from the left.
Ukraine won 3-2 over Israel in Tel Aviv. Oleg Gusev (16 pen) and Yevhen Konoplyanka (44) gave Ukraine 2-0 lead, which they needed as the hosts pushed them after the break. Tomer Heman (56 pen) pulled a goal back and while Andriy Yarmolenko (60) made it 3-1 Ben Sahar (62) immediately responded to leave Ukraine to hang on.
Fellow Euro 21012 co-hosts Poland, meanwhile, drew 0-0 with Portugal.
New Turkey boss Abdullah Avci's first game in charge ended in a 2-1 defeat by Slovakia in Bursa.
Michael O'Neill's first match in charge of Northern Ireland ended in defeat as a deflected effort and two late goals gave Norway a 3-0 victory at Windsor Park.
Things started brightly enough, with the hosts having the best of the first period only to go behind a minute before the break after Sammy Clingan diverted Nordtveit's shot past Lee Camp. Tarik Elyounoussi then doubled the winning margin with a neat shot in turn and Espen Ruud's volley sealed it in added time.
In Jose Pekerman's first game in charge, Colombia defeated Mexico 2-0 as Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado found the back of the net.
Matias Fernandez scored from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining to earn Chile a 1-1 draw with Ghana in their friendly. Matias Campos was shown red for Chile five minutes prior to the equaliser.
Jonathan Santana scored two minutes from time as Paraguay, who had Victor Caceres send off for deliberate handball after 15 minutes, beat Panama 1-0.
Jaime Ayovi scored twice as Ecuador beat Honduras 2-0 and Bolivia were 1-0 winners against Cuba.
Other international results
Latvia 0-0 Kazakhstan
Cyprus 0-0 Serbia
Georgia 2-1 Albania
Moldova 0-0 Belarus
Hungary 1-1 Bulgaria
Montenegro 2-1 Iceland
Armenia 3-1 Canada
Tunisia 1-1 Peru
Luxembourg 2-1 Macedonia
Malta 2-1 Liechtenstein
South Africa 0-0 Senegal
Denmark 0-2 Russia
Morocco 2-0 Burkina Faso
Austria 3-1 Finland
Greece 1-1 Belgium