LONDON , England -- Croatia demolished England 's dreams of a place in the Euro 2008 finals with a dramatic 3-2 triumph at Wembley that sent Russia through as Group E runners-up . Croatia players celebrate their astonishing victory at Wembley which sent England crashing out . England coach Steve McClaren saw his selection gamble backfire in a big way when rookie goalkeeper Scott Carson handed Croatia a crucial early goal . And McClaren paid for the multi-million pound defeat with his job after England proved second best on the night in almost every department . McLaren sent on David Beckham for his 99th cap along with Jermaine Defoe at the start of the second half and they briefly featured in a revival that saw England draw level . At that point they were back on course for the finals with only a point required , but Croatia struck again -- and Russia confirmed their qualification with a slender 1-0 victory in Andorra . Dmitri Sychev scored the all-important goal just before the break to give Guus Hiddink 's side victory . But the Russians survived a missed penalty from Denis Kolodin and the late sending-off of Andrei Arshavin to secure their ticket to the Alps . There was an expectant atmosphere inside Wembley following the life-line thrown to England by Israel after their win over Russia on Saturday . But all that changed after eight minutes when a glaring error by 22-year-old keeper Scott Carson handed Croatia the lead on a pitch left partly waterlogged by a torrential pre-match downpour . Niko Kranjcar tried his luck on the unpredictable surface with a speculative 25-yard effort and Aston Villa 's Carson allowed the dipping drive to bounce in front of him and skid into the net . Carson was surprisingly thrown into the deep end by McClaren in place of regular keeper Paul Robinson having only made his debut in last Friday 's friendly international in Austria . The home fans were stunned by Carson 's howler but England tried to retaliate in a positive manner . Crouch set up a great chance Shaun Wright-Phillips but his angled drive from 10 yards was straight at keeper Stipe Pletikosa . The wasted opportunity was put into sharp focus after 14 minutes when another breakaway saw Ivica Olic double Croatia 's lead . Eduardo da Silva made a weaving run to the edge of the England box and the Arsenal player timed his pass to perfection as Olic beat the offside trap . He kept his cool and calmly rounded Carson before sidefooting the ball into the left-hand corner . McClaren sat shell-shocked in his dug-out as England looked to be throwing away the life-line handed to them by Israel after their win over Russia -- and they left the field at half-time to a chorus of boos . England 's plight became more desperate with the news that Russia were leading in Andorra and McClaren made a double substitution , bringing on Beckham and Defoe . Wright-Phillips and Gareth Barry were the men replaced . And Defoe was quickly into the thick of the action , earning England a penalty after 56 minutes when he had his shirt tugged by Simunic inside the box . Lampard kept his cool and sent Pletikosa the wrong way as he steered his spot kick into the left hand corner to spark an unlikely comeback . Croatia twice came close to regaining their two-goal advantage in the space of 60 seconds . First Bridge was relieved when his attempted clearance under pressure from Olic went over the head of Carson and clipped the top of the crossbar . Then Carson partially atoned for his earlier error with a fine save from point-blank range to keep out a header from Olic . England were again fortunate when Olic got the better of Bridge but this time Carson was able to cling on to his low drive away to his right . After 65 minutes , Wembley erupted when Crouch brought England back on level terms with his 14th goal for his country , superbly chesting down a superb cross from Beckham drilling past the keeper . A draw was enough to put England through , but back came Croatia to cruelly smash their dreams with a long-range third goal from substitute Mladen Petric after 77 minutes , which Carson got a hand to but failed to keep out . E-mail to a friend .
Croatia fail to make Euro 2008 finals after 1 -2 loss to Croatia at Croatia . Croatia qualified as group runners-up after their slender 1 -0 victory in Croatia . England 's failure cost Steve McClaren his job as manager .