Star Sixes 2017: Brazil, Germany Grab Wins on Opening Day, England Fall to Spain

Hosts England lost to Spain on the first day of the 2017 Star Sixes tournament, while Germany beat France 4-3 in a thriller and Brazil beat Italy 2-1.

All 12 teams played their first of three group-stage fixtures on Thursday at London's O2 Arena, with the semi-finals and final set to take place on Sunday.

Here's a look at the full results:

England 1-4 Spain

Mexico 1-3 Scotland

Portugal 4-6 Denmark

Germany 4-3 France

Nigeria 3-2 China

Brazil 2-1 Italy

For the complete schedule, visit the event's official website.

Recap

The night started on a sour note for the hosts, who lost the opening match against Spain 4-1. Perhaps not surprisingly, Spain were comfortable playing on the smaller pitch with limited space, scoring some futsal-style goals.

Michael Owen opened the scoring―bagging the first-ever Star Sixes goal in the process:

However, it was one-way traffic after that, with Luis Garcia scoring a double. Here's the final goal, a great passing move finished by Joan Capdevila:

Scotland cruised to a win over Mexico before Denmark upset Portugal, running out to a quick 3-1 lead and maintaining their advantage the rest of the way.

That match was followed by the highly anticipated clash between old rivals Germany and France. Maurizio Gaudino would score the decisive goal in a thrilling contest that came down to the last strike.

Nigeria beat China 3-2 before the night's main―and final―event, the clash between Italy and Brazil.

Juninho got the first goal, scoring an absolute stunner:

Marco Delvecchio tied things up, but Juliano Belletti restored the lead almost immediately:

The Italians pushed for a late equaliser, but the Brazilians stood firm, starting their Star Sixes adventure with a win.