England goalkeeper Paul Robinson made two mistakes that resulted in a 2-0 loss to Croatia in European Championship qualifying at Zagreb, Croatia, on Wednesday.
Croatia is unbeaten in 30 qualifying matches on home turf.
"It was a magnificent victory against one of the world's best teams," Croatia manager Slaven Bilic said.
Robinson was caught straying from the line when Niko Kovac crossed to Eduardo da Silva, who opened the scoring on a header in the 61st minute.
Robinson suffered the ultimate indignity eight minutes later, when a simple back pass from teammate Gary Neville skipped over his foot as he tried to clear and rolled into the vacant net to make it 2-0.
"He is very disappointed about the bobble," England manager Steve McClaren said.
Despite the loss, England still shares first place in Group E with Croatia, Israel and Macedonia.
All four nations have seven points, but Croatia and Israel enjoy a game in hand.
"Now England have no room for mistakes and every win of theirs works in our favour for qualification," Bilic said.
England entered Wednesday's match having shut out its last six opponent, but switched from a 4-4-2 formation to 3-5-2 and the Croatians exploited the crowded midfield on the counter-attack.
"We lost the game, so, obviously, the tactics did not work," McClaren said. "I have been around for five years, I know how it works.
"I accept the plaudits when they come. And when we lose, I have to accept the criticism.
"It's all part of the job.
We were pent back and always chasing the game."
The strategy further backfired because it left strikers Wayne Rooney and Peter Crouch isolated up front.
Elsewhere, Lukas Podolski scored two goals as Germany defeated Slovakia 4-1 in Wednesday's qualifier at Bratislava, Slovakia.
Greece pounded a short-handed squad from Bosnia 4-0 at Zenica, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Craig Bellamy potted one goal and set up another for Wales in a 3-1 victory over Cyprus at Cardiff, Wales.
Italy beat 10-man Georgia, also 3-1, at Tbilisi, Georgia.
Euzebiusz Smolarek scored twice in the first half as Poland nipped Portugal 2-1 at Chorzow, Poland.
Guus Hiddink earned his first win as manager in Russia's 2-0 triumph over Estonia at St. Petersburg, Russia.
Jan Koller tallied in the 64th minute Wednesday as the Czech Republic rallied for a 1-1 draw with Ireland at Dublin.
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