England were beaten 3-2 by Croatia in their final Euro 2008 qualifier in Group E at Wembley on Wednesday and with Russia winning 1-0 in Andorra, Steve McClaren’s Three Lions have failed to make it to the Euro Championship in Austria and Switzerland.

Guus Hiddink’s Russia won in Andorra in the other Group E qualifier 1-0 with Sychev scoring in the 39th minute.

Croatia won the group with 29 points while Russia took their tally to 24 and England ended third on 23.

The Three Lions only needed to avoid defeat to qualify for next summer’s finals but the home side looked second-best on display with the already-qualified Croatia holding the upper hand.

After a largely midfield battle on a soaked pitch as rain pelted down, England fell behind in the 8th minute as Aston Villa keeper Scott Carson, who was making his competitive debut, made an hash of what should have been a regulation save from a low angular long-range shot by Portsmouth’s Niko Kranjcar.

At the other end, Pletikosa blocked off a close-range shot from Shaun Wright-Phillips as the Three Lions showed urgency. Micah Richards then made a promising run but could not get past the rival defence.

England were down 2-0 in the 14th minute as Arsenal striker Eduardo set up Ivica Olic, who rounded Carson and slotted the ball home from the six-yard box after breaking through an offside trap.

England got a penalty in the 56th minute as Simunic pulled down substitute Jermain Defoe and Frank Lampard scored, dispatching the ball into the bottom corner, to reduce the deficit.

At the other end, the home side were lucky as first the crossbar came in way off left-back Wayne Bridge’s attempted block to Olic’s shot and then Carson made a reflex save around the hour mark.

Peter Crouch made it 2-2 with the Liverpool striker putting on a sublime finish after controlling by his chest a wonderful ball from substitute David Beckham in the 66th minute.

Substitute Petric scored the winner with a fine left-footer that beat Carson, after being set up by Pranjic in the 78th minute.

Earlier, Portugal Sweden and Turkey took their place in the next summer’s finals to join Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Czech Republic, Croatia, Spain, Romania, the Netherlands and co-hosts Austria and Switzerland.