Quick Report: Croatia 1-4 England

Theo Walcott dazzled for England on Wednesday, scoring a hat-trick to lead his side to a 4-1 World Cup qualifying win over Croatia.

The young Arsenal striker took advantage of a bad bounce to score England opener on 26 minutes, tucking home after Danijel Pranjic’s attempted clearance hit Robert Kovac in the back.

Kovac then made matters worse for Croatia in the 51st minute when he was dismissed for raising an elbow to the eye of Joe Cole when going up for a header. Cole was taken off for treatment and did not return to the match.

England then poured it on, Walcott bagging the second on the hour, and Wayne Rooney making it 3-0 just three minutes later.

Substitute Mario Mandzukic managed to pull one back for Croatia in the 77th minute, but the superb Walcott completed his treble nine minutes from time.

The win for England avenges a loss at Wembley Stadium on the final day of Euro 2008 qualifying, a loss that saw England fail to qualify for the finals of that tournament.