Winners and Losers from International Friendlies on November 18

England won 3-1 away to Scotland, and Germany ended Spain's unbeaten streak on home soil in two of Tuesday's more high-profile international friendlies.

Elsewhere, Portugal edged Argentina 1-0, France triumphed over Sweden by the same scoreline and the Republic of Ireland shellacked the United States to the tune of 4-1.

There was enough international action to satisfy any football fan on the last FIFA date of 2014, and in the following slideshow we'll break down the winners and losers from the matches on November 18.

Let's get to it.

Winner: Comebacks, Which Saw Belarus and Switzerland Earn Impressive Results

Czarek Sokolowski/Associated Press

After a dour, mostly uneventful first 45 minutes in Borisov, Mexico forward Raul Jimenez opened the scoring against Belarus just three minutes after the restart.

The hosts would be playing catch-up from there, although it seemed to be a game they excelled at.

Sergei Kislyak equalised just two minutes later, and after Jimenez restored El Tri's lead in the 53rd minute, Nikolai Signevich restored level terms with a well-placed header.

Pavel Nekhajchik completed the fight-back with nine minutes to play when he notched the winner after Stanislav Dragun's initial attempt was blocked.

In Poland, meanwhile, Switzerland took an early lead before finding themselves trailing 2-1 just after the hour mark.

But Fabian Frei's 87th-minute goal ensured the guests escaped Warsaw with a share of the spoils.

Loser: The Old Trafford Faithful, Who Saw Little of Ronaldo and Messi

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

There was considerable buildup leading to Tuesday's clash between Argentina and Portugal at Old Trafford. And no wonder, as the match promised a coming together of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neither player did much of anything in the first half, however, although Ronaldo took a late attempt that failed to hit the target.

But when the teams came out to start the second half an air of displeasure descended on the home of Manchester United.

Messi and Ronaldo had both been subbed out of the game, a decision that, according to the Twitter account of The Guardian's Jamie Jackson, didn't go down very well.

Winner: Roberto Firmino, Who Scored a Spectacular Winner for Brazil

Through much of Brazil's friendly against Austria, the five-time world champions were stymied by an organised and determined opponent.

Still, they were able to break through when David Luiz headed Oscar's corner into the back of the net, although Oscar then handed Austria a breakthrough when he hacked Andreas Weimann to ground in the guests' 18-yard box.

Aleksandar Dragovic made no mistake from the penalty spot.

The stage was set for a late winner, and Roberto Firmino provided it with seven minutes remaining when his swerving shot from well out evaded goalkeeper Ramazan Ozcan on its way to the top right-hand corner.

Football journalist Cristian Nyari remarked via Twitter that Firmino was "pretty decent," even if his call-up was "two years late."

Winner: Francesco Acerbi, Who Overcame Cancer to Win an Italy Cap

Claudio Villa/Getty Images

Francesco Acerbi played just eight minutes plus stoppages on Tuesday, but in representing his country he completed an improbable and difficult journey.

Late last year the Sassuolo defender was diagnosed with testicular cancer and immediately underwent chemotherapy treatment.

Initially called into the Italy squad in 2012 but never making it onto the pitch, he made his first appearance for the Azzurri against Albania after replacing Leonardo Bonucci in Sampdoria on Tuesday night.

As BT Sports' James Horncastle expressed on Twitter, Acerbi's introduction was a "great reward" after getting his all-clear.

Nicholas Godden of the Daily Mail quoted Acerbi from an interview with Rai Sport as saying, "With everything I went through, I am happy and proud, but I have objectives and when I've reached them I will be satisfied. What are they? I won't tell."

Acerbi added, "If you want to reach your targets, then you need to work hard, sweat and have that hunger within you. If you don't have it in you, then it's impossible to get there."

Loser: Spain's Home Record, Which Was Ended by Germany

Lalo R. Villar/Associated Press

Going into Tuesday's friendly against Germany, Spain hadn't lost at home in 34 matches, as pointed out by Infostrada Sports.

For much of the encounter in Vigo, which was hardly an eventful affair, it looked as though the streak would stretch to 35—that is until Toni Kroos' long-distance winner in the 89th minute.

Goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, it must be said, might have done better to keep the ball from breaching the low right-hand corner.

Winner: Late Winners, Which Came Throughout the Day

Claude Paris/Associated Press

Admittedly, there were some disappointing matches on Tuesday. Spain-Germany, Argentina-Portugal and France-Sweden spring to mind.

But all three featured a late winner: Toni Kroos for Germany, Raphael Guerreiro for Portugal and Raphael Varane for France.

Stefano Okaka too scored late to lift Italy over Albania, and it wasn't until the 81st minute that Pavel Nekhajchik scored what proved to be the winner for Belarus, who defeated Mexico 3-2.

Earlier in the day Sardar Azmoun's goal in the 82nd minute gave Iran a 1-0 win over South Korea, and it wasn't until the 80th minute that Alexander Kerzhakov gave Russia the second goal they'd need to see off Hungary.