England, Italy, France win in World Cup qualifiers

England, Italy and France won World Cup qualifiers Wednesday night, while Germany had to fight for a tie at Finland and Portugal lost by allowing three goals in the last eight minutes to visiting Denmark.

On a day when 43 qualifiers were played around the globe, North and South Korea tied for the fourth time this year, playing a 1-1 draw at Shanghai, China. FIFA, soccer's governing body, moved the match after the North refused to play the anthem and fly the flag of its southern neighbor.

In night matches, the United States beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0, Brazil played to a 0-0 draw with Bolivia, and Argentina and Peru tied 1-1.

At Zagreb, 19-year-old Theo Walcott scored three goals and Wayne Rooney ended his international scoring drought, leading England to a 4-1 victory over Croatia.

"Tonight was a bit of revenge. It was a great performance and a great result," Rooney said. "You always enjoy a 4-1 victory, especially after what Croatia did to us in the last qualifying campaign."

England had lost twice against Croatia in qualifying for June's European Championship, including a 3-2 defeat at Wembley in November — when England needed only a tie to advance. The English also struggled to beat Andorra 2-0 last weekend at Barcelona, Spain.

"We played well, like a team and without problems," said England coach Fabio Capello, who replaced Steve McClaren after the November loss. "But this is only one victory, a good performance and nothing else."

Walcott, who hadn't scored in his three previous international appearances, got goals in the 26th, 60th and 81st minutes, becoming the first player to score three goals in a game for England since Peter Crouch in an exhibition against Jamaica two years ago.

Beckham replaced Walcott in the 84th minute. With 105 appearances, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder tied Billy Wright for fourth on England's career list, trailing only Peter Shilton (125), Bobby Moore (108) and Bobby Charlton (106).

"I decided to play Walcott because I saw him perform well against Andorra and during training," Capello said. "I saw that he is fantastic both physically and mentally."

At Udine, Daniele De Rossi scored in the 17th and 88th minutes, leading defending champion Italy over Georgia 2-0. Italy won its opener 2-1 at Cyprus last weekend.

"If we consider all the injuries we've had, to come out with two positive results is pretty good," Italy coach Marcello Lippi said.