England's Euro 2008 dreams - and quite possibly Steve McClaren's job - were washed away in the Wembley rain despite a thrilling David Beckham-inspired comeback.
Two goals down to Croatia at the break, needing a point to reach next summer's finals and his big goalkeeping gamble having backfired in catastrophic fashion, McClaren turned to Beckham for salvation.
On his 99th England appearance, the veteran midfielder almost provided it too, setting up Peter Crouch for a superb equaliser after Frank Lampard had converted a 56th-minute penalty.
But remaining on level terms against a team with nothing to play for proved a task too far for sorry England, who didn't deserve to be level in the first place.
And when substitute Mladen Petric beat hapless Scott Carson from 20 yards 13 minutes from time, there was no way back and surely no way McClaren can hold onto his job either, having failed to deliver qualification despite the unexpected reprieve given to his side by Israel at the weekend.
It will hurt McClaren all the more that the first seeds of England's downfall were sown by Carson's monumental early blunder.
The youngster, plunged into the biggest game of his life in place of Paul Robinson, could not have endured a more miserable evening, letting Niko Kranjcar's hopeful 25-yard effort slip through his fingers and into his own goal with just eight minutes on the clock.
It was the kind of error that would have had a park keeper wishing the ground would open up and swallow him. On this stage, at this level, there is simply no excuse. Not the rain. Not a swerving ball. Nothing.
England might well have gained instant redemption had Shaun Wright-Phillips, the man who got the nod over Beckham, been able to finish when Joe Cole, one of the few home players exempt from criticism, and Peter Crouch combined to set him up.
The angle was tight but Wright-Phillips could have finished. Instead, he blasted straight at Stipe Pletikosa and not long afterwards, England found themselves two adrift.
This time the architect was Eduardo Da Silva, a bit-part player for Arsenal so far but clearly blessed with impeccable dribbling skills as he drove at the heart of England's desperately back-pedalling defence.
For some inexplicable reason, Wright-Phillips, finding himself in an unaccustomed right-back slot, tried to play Ivica Olic offside.
The ill-advised move merely allowed the striker to stroll through, round Carson and tap into an empty net.
A capacity Wembley crowd was shell-shocked, barely able to grasp the nightmare unfolding in front of them.
At no point did Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard get hold of the game, at no point did Crouch look a threat and at no point did England's defence look capable of resisting Croatia for the remainder of the game.
As he delivered potentially his last half-time team-talk, the boos of his own fans once again ringing in his ears, McClaren's belief could have been reinforced only by the knowledge that twice in his Middlesbrough days, his teams somehow engineered comebacks from three goals behind against Steaua Bucharest and AS Roma.
It must have been in his mind as he sent on Beckham and Jermain Defoe. And it must have been coursing through his veins when Beckham lined up a 50th-minute free-kick from roughly the same position he netted that famous injury-time goal against Greece that saw England reach the 2002 World Cup.
This time, Beckham could only strike the wall. But his introduction had invigorated England and, for the first time, unsettled Croatia.
Josip Simunic, the man booked three times by Graham Poll at the last World Cup, was panicked into a penalty box tug on Defoe.
The foul was spotted by an eagle-eyed assistant and up stepped Lampard to send Pletikosa the wrong way.
Now, the crowd were right behind England, forgetting just how badly they had been let down before.
And who should respond most positively of all but Beckham. His fitness may be lacking but his right boot remains lethal.
With one deft chip, he picked out Crouch, who controlled on his chest before rattling home his 14th international goal.
None have been better received and none have been as important.
As Crouch raced away, pursued by ecstatic team-mates, McClaren darted off the bench, punching the air in utter jubilation.
It seemed McClaren's version of the Great Escape would reach a memorable and totally satisfactory conclusion.
Instead, just as Steve McQueen was recaptured and jailed, so England were snared again as substitute Petric belted home from 20 yards to knock them out.
Teams:
England Carson, Richards, Campbell, Lescott, Bridge, Wright-Phillips (Beckham 46), Gerrard, Barry (Defoe 46),Lampard, Joe Cole (Bent 80), Crouch.
Subs Not Used: James, Ashley Cole, Brown, Hargreaves.
Goals: Lampard 56 pen, Crouch 65.
Croatia Pletikosa, Corluka, Simic, Robert Kovac, Simunic, Srna, Modric, Nico Kovac, Kranjcar (Pranjic 75), Olic (Rakitic 84), Eduardo (Petric 69).
Subs Not Used: Runje, Babic, Knezevic, Leko.
Booked: Robert Kovac, Eduardo.
Goals: Kranjcar 8, Olic 14, Petric 77.
Att: 88,091
Ref: Peter Frojdfeldt (Sweden).
