A penalty from Frank Lampard after seven minutes set Capello's men on their way towards an eighth successive qualifying win on the road to South Africa

Stephen Gerrard made it 2-0 before the break, with the midfield duo both also on target in the second half.

Arsenal striker Eduardo (73) grabbed a consolation for the Croats, but Wayne Rooney completed the rout 13 minutes from time.

"Let's not forget it has taken us a year or so to get to this level," Terry said on ITV1.

"We still want to progress and have a lot of improvements to make in this squad.

"This is where we want to be, competing at this level and at this standard."

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Tonight's result wiped away the painful memories of Croatia's last visit to Wembley, when their win ended hopes of reaching Euro 2008 and signalled the end of Steve McClaren's reign.

Lampard, who played in that match, declared: "We put the record straight.

"This performance showed everything we are about.

"This is the first step, we have qualified now and there is still a long way to go.

"If we can keep improving when we get to the World Cup, then that will be fantastic."

However, the Chelsea midfielder knows expectation must be curtailed.

"We are all very level headed and understand there is still work to be done," he added, "but it is nice to enjoy it for the moment."

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Capello hailed the "best performance" of his reign.

The Italian coach declared: "We played quick, moved the ball and moved when we did not have the ball.

"The first 20 minutes were fantastic and we were very compact.

"The performance tonight was very important and we did everything which we tried in training.

"Now we can talk about South Africa."

Much had been made of Slaven Bilic's pre-match talk over this team having lost their "Englishness".

Capello, however, maintained there was no reason to take the former West Ham and Everton defender to task.

"I spoke with Bilic," Capello added on ITV1.

"He said that it is now a different team tactically, not the spirit.

"I made sure of what he had said."

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Terry maintains there is "more to come" from this England side.

He said on BBC Sport: "It feels very good, we have had some low points so it is important we enjoy today.

"But we are progressing how we want to progress and we know there is a lot more to come."

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Manchester United striker Rooney continued his fine recent England form to take his international goals tally to 25, moving him past 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst.

Rooney told BBC Radio Five Live: "I was delighted to score tonight.

"My chance was a bit fortunate, but you have got to be in the position to take those chances."

Rooney added: "It is an amazing feeling to reach the World Cup, having won eight out of eight.

"The manager has told us what our jobs are, and what he expects from us.

"That is what we have tried to do on the pitch."

Like the rest of the England camp, Rooney is determined everyone should keep things in perspective.

"We have got a few more games before the World Cup finals and I am sure the manager will try a few different things in those games," he said.

"It is still a long way away, and we will have a lot of preparation time for it, so we will have to wait and see."