France 1 - Finland 0; Georgia 1 - Belarus 0

Georgia welcomed Belarus to Tbilisi for the opener of Group I play.  The first half was controlled by Belarus, but Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Loria produced two key saves to deny first Sergey Kornilenko and then Anton Putsila.  0-0 was the halftime score.

Seven minutes after the resumption of play, a slow Belarus attack broke down and gave way to a quick counterattack for Georgia.  The ball was stripped and then slotted to Tornike Okriashvili, who ran twenty-four yards before shaking two Belarus defenders to the ground.  He then spun and finished to the far post as a third defender desperately tried to apply pressure.  Loria shut the down from thereon out, denying Belarus on two more occasions to secure a 1-0 win for Georgia.

France made a trip to Helsinki to face Finland in each team's first fixture in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  Abou Diaby (pictured, blue) made his return to Les Bleus after a year of injury.  Karim Benzema rewarded him midway through the opening half with a through ball directly down the middle of the pitch that allowed Diaby to latch on and swing wide to his right before finishing far post to give France a 1-0 lead that would hold through the first half.

In the second period, France pushed forward for a second goal to kill the game, but they nearly paid the price by allowing a Finnish counterattack to nip an equalizer.  Nevertheless, France escape with a 1-0 win to keep the pressure on Group I favorites Spain.

Goals
Georgia
Tornike Okriashvili 52

France
Abou Diaby 20

Match Reports:
http://www.espnstar.com/football/world-cup/news/detail/item852504/Grp-I:-Georgia-1-0-Belarus/
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/soccer/story/France-wins-10-at-Finland-in-World-Cup-qualifier-99121980
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1697161/index.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di9_ki3LDoA (Georgia v. Belarus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JB6JXCVMtI (France v. Finland)