However, Bilic's men had the better of the game, with Milan Rapaic coming closest to scoring when his free-kick struck the woodwork.

Other chances came and went for both sides but the only winner in a goalless draw was the muddy Moscow pitch.

Croatia were already five points behind early pacesetters England by the time their next qualifier came round, four days before the crunch meeting with Steve McClaren's side.

Even without a number of key men, they ran riot against European minnows Andorra, Mladen Petric the chief beneficiary of some truly amateur defending.

He helped himself to four goals before Ivan Klasnic, Bosko Balaban and Luka Modric wrapped up a 7-0 rout, equalling Croatia's biggest ever victory.

That stood them in good stead for the visit of an England side missing two key men in Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard but who were undone mostly as a result of a tactical experiment and a night to forget for goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

Deploying an unfamiliar 3-5-2 formation, the visitors were second best throughout.

Robinson was caught in no man's land as Eduardo looped in a header just past the hour mark, shortly before arguably the most comical goal in the whole of qualifying saw Gary Neville's backpass hit a divot and hop over Robinson's attempted clearance.

The result took Croatia top of the group, level on points with England but with a game in hand.

They took the outright lead in the group the following month thanks to a thrilling 4-3 win in Israel.

Eduardo was the hero again, netting a hat-trick as Croatia came from a goal down in Tel-Aviv.

A defensive mix-up allowed Roberto Colautti to put Israel ahead but Darijo Srna levelled from the spot and Eduardo had turned the game around before half-time.

The Arsenal-bound forward made it 3-1 but Yossi Benayoun cut the deficit before Eduardo completed his treble.

Colautti got his second of the game a minute from time.

When qualifying resumed the following March, Croatia needed more heroics from Eduardo to avoid dropping points at home to Macedonia.

It was an eventful game for Macedonia defender Goce Sedloski, who put his side ahead only to get himself sent off shortly after Srna levelled matters.

The 10 men looked set to snatch a point until Eduardo turned in Srna's cross with three minutes remaining.

With Israel and England drawing 0-0 on the same day, Croatia maintained their stranglehold on the group.

Russia were the nearest challengers at this stage, two points behind Croatia.

Their 4-0 win over Andorra meant Croatia had to win in Estonia to retain the outright lead four days before their return meeting with Guus Hiddink's men.

A largely forgettable game was decided by Eduardo's first-half finish as Croatia edged closer to qualification.

Victory over Russia in Zagreb would have all but confirmed their passage.

Yet, despite dominating the game, they were forced to settle for another goalless draw, with Eduardo for once found wanting in front of goal.

With the business end of the group approaching, England finally found their form, giving them hope of resurrecting their stuttering campaign.

But Croatia were showing few signs of wavering.

September heralded a routine 2-0 win over Estonia, with Eduardo's quickfire double doing the damage.

Four days later, the leaders took their aggregate tally against Andorra to 13-0 with a 6-0 romp.

Srna's deflected free-kick and a double from Petric ended the contest before half-time.

Niko Kranjcar made it 4-0 before Eduardo got his customary goal and substitute Ivan Rakitic completed the rout.

It was all too much for Andorra'sGenis Garcia, who got himself sent off.

The following month, another testing encounter with Israel was settled by Eduardo's 52nd-minute strike, putting Croatia on the brink of reaching the finals.

Qualification could have been confirmed without them even kicking a ball had England not capitulated in Russia four days later.

That was only the start of an incredible climax to the group, which saw Croatia slump to a shock 2-0 defeat in Macedonia but still qualify courtesy of Russia's last-gasp defeat in Israel.

That opened the door for England to not only join Croatia at the finals but overhaul them as group winners going into their final-day head to head at Wembley.

England needed a draw to qualify and victory by two clear goals to win the group, though the latter outcome was quickly rendered impossible in an extraordinary match.

McClaren again gambled by handing goalkeeper Scott Carson his competitive debut and it was his blunder that allowed Kranjcar to put the visitors ahead.

Ivica Olic exposed calamitous England defending to make it 2-0 before the second-half introduction of David Beckham saw the home side draw level.

However, Petric came off the bench to fire in what proved the winner, leaving England's qualification dream in tatters.