England goalkeeper Karen Bardsley's blushes were partly spared by club-mate Jill Scott as the Lionesses came from behind to draw 1-1 with Belgium in Rotherham.
Mark Sampson's team had looked like suffering a first European Championship qualifying defeat for almost 16 years as Bardsley's calamitous error gifted Belgium a shock early lead.
But Scott, who plays with Bardsley for Manchester City Women, saved England in the 83rd minute, prodding home after Karen Carney made a nuisance of herself on the edge of the six-yard box.
Sampson's World Cup bronze medallists were aiming to surge top of Group Seven but instead find themselves in a battle for that position with the Belgians, who must now fancy an automatic place at the Euro 2017 finals in Holland.
The breakthrough came in the 18th minute when Bardsley made a frightful mess of an attempted kick out from the edge of the penalty area, after an innocuous Belgian pass forward trickled her way. Bardsley took an air shot at the ball and allowed Janice Cayman to roll into the vacated net.
With England flat until the second-half introductions of substitutes Carney, Eni Aluko and Gemma Davison, it threatened to be a grim night for the home side.
England's white and light blue kit and Belgium's pale turquoise were arguably too closely matched, which hardly helped the spectacle, yet 10,550 spectators at the New York Stadium were rewarded for persisting with their support by Scott's crucial intervention.
England last lost a European Championship qualifier in 2000, when thrashed 8-0 away by Norway.
They were out of sorts this time for an hour, and Bardsley had to be out smartly to save at the feet of Cayman as Belgium chased a second goal.
Carney's arrival in place of Demi Stokes proved a game-changer, with the experienced playmaker becoming far more involved than the player she replaced.
She threaded a fine pass through for Fara Williams, but the midfielder put her shot well wide and may have been thankful to see the assistant referee flagging her offside.
Skipper Steph Houghton swept a 20-yard shot just wide as time ticked on, and the relief was obvious as Scott finished from close range soon afterwards.
Seven points from three games is two fewer than England wanted, but that is their haul following a previous 8-0 in Estonia and a 1-0 victory at Wycombe against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
They face the latter again on Tuesday, needing a lift after this setback.
Source: PA
