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Croatia capitalised on a dismal Greece defensive display to take a commanding lead after the first leg of their World Cup qualifying play-off in Zagreb.

Greek keeper Orestis Karnezis' clumsy touch led to him conceding an early penalty, which Luka Modric converted.

Nikola Kalinic was unmarked to tap in a second but Sokratis Papastathopoulos' fine header gave Greece an away goal.

Ivan Perisic headed Croatia's third before half-time before Andrej Kramaric tapped in after a botched backpass.

Konstantinos Stafylidis' attempt to chest the ball back to his keeper summed up Greece's defensive display as Sime Vrsaljko stole in to square, giving Kramaric an empty net.

That gave Croatia a three-goal advantage, leaving Greece with a huge task on home soil in Sunday's second leg, when a 3-0 win will be required to send them through on away goals.

Croatia have not lost a competitive fixture by a three-goal margin since a 5-1 defeat by England in 2009.

Their lead could have been cut late on when former Fulham striker Kostas Mitroglou went close twice for Greece, heading over the bar before seeing another header well saved by Danijel Subasic in the 90th minute.

But Croatia controlled proceedings with 59% of possession and 17 shots at goal as Modric and Perisic consistently linked well in midfield, while Atletico Madrid right-back Vrsaljko impressed in creating his side's third and fourth goals.

This was only Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic's second game in charge, but in overseeing a 2-0 win in Ukraine to secure a play-off spot and now this dominant victory, his side are close to reaching back-to-back World Cups.