England's quest to reach the UEFA EURO 2008 finals ended in the mud at a rain-sodden Wembley on Wednesday when Steve McClaren's team lost 3-2 to Croatia. While England were left with the heartache of missing out on the continental finals for the first time since 1984, there was qualification joy for Portugal, Russia, Sweden and Turkey.

This quartet grabbed the remaining places on offer for next year's finals on a nerve-jangling final night of qualifying to join Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and co-hosts Austria and Switzerland at the event.

Nowhere was the tension more palpable than at Wembley. After Israel had given England a lifeline by beating Russia at the weekend a point was all they needed to pip the Russians to second spot in Group E, but a talented Croatian side proved their undoing.

McClaren, asked if this spelled the end of the road for him as England manager, said: "No, I won't (resign). "I understand the question but I'm not going to discuss my future so soon after a huge disappointment. It has been a massive let down for the nation and we have to reflect on it.

Portugal do enough, Norway miss out
Over in Oporto a goalless draw against Finland was enough for Portugal, hosts and beaten finalists at UEFA EURO 2004, to book their ticket to the 2008 finals.

This outcome left Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo delighted. "It's true we wanted a win here but all we needed was a draw and the important thing is that we've qualified for the EUROs," he said.

Head coach Luiz Felipe Scolari added: "We had a fair number of players injured, that always complicates matters a little, but we've qualified and that's the main thing. We now have lots of work to do to improve."

Sweden ensured their presence at next year's finals with a 2-1 win over Latvia, which put them through as runners-up behind Group F winners Spain, who beat Northern Ireland in Las Palmas.

Norway overcame Malta 4-1 but it was not enough to prevent Turkey securing the runners-up spot behind Greece in Group C after Fatih Terim's men defeated Bosnia 1-0.