The hosts had gone ahead after 48 minutes when Thierry Henry forced home from close range, but the equaliser arrived eight minutes later when Julien Escude turned the ball into his own net.

The result leaves France four points adrift of leaders Serbia, who they meet in a crunch match in Belgrade on Wednesday.

The result is likely to pour pressure on France coach Raymond Domenech who opted to start star winger Franck Ribery on the bench, no doubt with Wednesday's game in mind, while Escude was preferred to Barcelona defender Eric Abidal.

Marc Janko scored twice as Austria kept alive their slim hopes with a 3-1 victory over the Faroe Islands in Graz.

Austria lie third in Group Seven on 10 points, four behind France and a further four adrift of group leaders Serbia.

The home side took the lead in the first minute through Stefan Maierhofer and Janko then netted 15 minutes later to double the advantage.

Janko got his second from the penalty spot after 59 minutes before Andreas Olsen netted a consolation for the visitors seven minutes from the end.