Theo Walcott opened his account for England in impressive fashion with a hat-trick against Croatia in Group 6.

The Arsenal striker netted the first two goals of the encounter with Manchester United's Wayne Rooney adding the third in a 4-1 away win. Substitute Mario Mandzukic scored a consolation for Slaven Bilic's side before Walcott completed his hat-trick.

Croatia were down to 10 men after 53 minutes with Robert Kovac sent off after a dangerous foul on Chelsea's Joe Cole.

Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur new boy Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the opener as Russia beat Wales 2-1. Spurs team-mate Gareth Bale missed a penalty for Wales in the early stages.

Newcastle United's Shay Given earned the Republic of Ireland a hard-fought point in Montenegro with a string of fine saves. Liverpool's Robbie Keane might have snatched all three points with a 56th-minute half-volley, which was saved by keeper Vukasin Poleksic.

away win

Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon kept a clean sheet in Scotland's 2-1 victory in Iceland. The Scotland side also featured Manchester United's Darren Fletcher while Portsmouth's Hermann Hreidarsson represented Iceland.

A Northern Ireland side featuring Sunderland duo David Healy and George McCartney and Fulham pair Aaron Hughes and Chris Baird drew 0-0 with Czech Republic at Windsor Park.

Bolton Wanderers loanee Ebi Smolarek scored for Poland in their 2-0 away win in San Marino.

Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka added to Thierry Henry's opener for France to help his country to a 2-1 win over Serbia.

Manchester United's Nani opened the scoring for Portugal in their match with Denmark, which they surprisingly lost 3-2. Chelsea's Deco also scored a penalty, with Nicklas Bendtner of Arsenal on target for the Danes.

Fulham's Clint Dempsey netted for the USA in their 3-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago.