Gareth Southgate's side missed chances to be out of sight by half-time before Andrej Kramaric put the visitors ahead with a deflected effort after the break.
But Jesse Lingard tapped in to give England hope and Harry Kane's 85th-minute finish from a Ben Chilwell free-kick gave the Three Lions a 2-1 win that takes them to Portugal's finals in June.
Here is how the players rated at Wembley…
ENGLAND
JORDAN PICKFORD: Apart from an early scare not much to do until Kramaric’s strike which he had little chance of saving. 6
KYLE WALKER: Back in his preferred role at right-back and look far more comfortable although some of his crossing could have been better and lost possession a few times. 6
JOE GOMEZ: Only his sixth England cap but looks as though he has been playing in central defence for years. His long throw led to the equaliser. 7
JOHN STONES: Comfortable on the ball and read Croatia’s attacks until the opening goal when he could have done much better as he was turned inside out. 6
BEN CHILWELL: Outstanding free-kick which led to the winning goal – pure class. Generally accomplished performance at left-back and forced a decent save from Kalinic. 7
MARCUS RASHFORD: Extremely encouraging. A few flicks and tricks but also effective while delivering some intelligent passing but the only thing missing was a goal. 7
ERIC DIER: Had little chance with the deflection that led to Croatia’s goal but anchored England’s midfield and proved how important he is to the team. 7
FABIAN DELPH: Started in place of the injured Henderson and kept close to Modric – and some of his passing was also excellent. Only replaced as Southgate gave England more attacking bite. 7
RAHEEM STERLING: At times, particularly in the first half, was simply unplayable. Wasted an early chance when he shot instead of squaring to Rashford but plenty of movement. 7
ROSS BARKLEY: Busy performance and could have scored just before the break. A couple of mistakes in the second half and he made way for Alli – but right back in the international fold. 6
HARRY KANE: Who else? It just had to be England’s captain to score the winner and this is why he is world class. He missed an early sitter, played a part in the leveller and then scored the winner. 8 STAR MAN
Subs: Alli (for Barkley 64 mins) 7, Lingard (for Delph 73 mins) 7, Sancho (for Rashford 73 mins) 7. Alli and Sancho made positives impacts while Lingard could not miss for the leveller.
Subs not used: Butland, McCarthy, Alexander-Arnold, Dunk, Keane, Shaw, Winks, Loftus-Cheek, Wilson.
CROATIA
Kalinic 6, Vrsaljko 6 (Milic 27 mins 6) , Lovren 6, Vida 6, Jedvaj 7, Modric 6, Brozovic 6, Rebic 6 (Brekalo 46 mins 6), Vlasic 6 (Rog 80 mins 6), Perisic 6, Kramaric 7.
Subs not used: Livakovic, Letica, Mitrovic, Caleta-Car, Bradaric, Pasalic, Badelj, Pjaca, Pivaric.
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