England's final preparation match before this summer's UEFA Under-21 European Championship ended in defeat as Croatia earned a 2-1 win at Craven Cottage.
It was an uneventful affair for most of the first half, but a moment of magic from Croatia's Martin Baturina in the 34th-minute ignited the fire in what proved to be an entertaining, end-to-end affair.
The Croatian's double their lead soon after the break when Dion Drena Beljo was felled in the area by Luke Thomas, with the centre-forward stepping up to convert the resulting penalty.
England were dominant in possession for large sections of the game but were on the wrong side of an excellent goalkeeping performance as Dominik Kotarski, who later conceded a penalty that allowed the Young Lions to pull one back late on through Morgan Gibbs-White, made countless saves in front of a 5,000 capacity crowd.
Story of the match
In England's last preparatory match before this summer's European Championship, Lee Carsley made wholesale changes to the line-up that started in the 4-0 thrashing of France on Saturday.
James Trafford was the only one to retain his place as the 20-year-old had an entire new line-up in front of him. Rico Lewis started at right-back with a centre-back pairing of Ben Johnson and Nathan Wood alongside Luke Thomas; Garner was accompanied in midfield by Jacob Ramsey and Tommy Doyle, with a strong attack of Chelsea's Noni Madueke, Liverpool's Curtis Jones, and Manchester City's Cole Palmer.
Igor Biscan set up his side in a 4-3-3 formation. Kotarski captained the side from in goal; the back four comprised David Colina, Hrvoja smolcic, Nikola Soldo and Roko Jureskin, with a midfield three of Jurica Prsir, Lukas Kavacada and Martin Baturina in front of them. Leading the line was Dion Drena Beljo alongside Matija Frigan and Gabriel Vidovic.
The visitors begun the match on the back foot and allowed England to have a hold of the possession. In the opening few minutes the Young Lions had a penalty shout waved away by the referee as Palmer was brought down before a further two were ignored within the first ten minutes, first for Garner then Madueke.
The first 20 minutes saw limited action, with two notable half-chances coming from set-pieces. Croatia's Soldo headed a corner over the bar before Wood did the same minutes later as he towered over the defender at the back post to meet Doyle's free-kick.
Kotarski was called into action for the first time in the 22nd-minute, where he did well to close down the angle for Jones inside the area, before blocking his shot with his legs at the near post following excellent play from Palmer on the wing in the build-up.
England then went close to taking the lead in the 27th-minute after a sustained period of pressure as Doyle fired an outside of the foot cross into a dangerous area but no one was able to meet it. The first 30 minutes proved to be a cagey affair.
However, against the run of play, the visitors took the lead with a moment of magic from Baturina. After Lewis brought down Kacavenda on the edge of the area, the 20-year-old stepped up and produced an unstoppable strike into the top left corner, leaving Trafford grasping at air.
Croatia went close to doubling their lead just before the break through another excellent set-piece from Baturina, this time whipping a cross into the back post where it was met Beljo, who directed the ball past Trafford, but was denied by Wood on the line. Although, it was later called up for offside.
England started the second half on the front foot, and Madueke had the first opportunity of the half as he found space in the area, but his left-footed shot towards the near post was comfortably held by Kotarski.
Croatia were awarded a penalty in the 52nd-minute. An excellent cross-field pass from Psrir caught Thomas out of the position; the left-back, trying to atone for his error, brought down Beljo in the area in an attempt to deny a shooting opportunity. The centre-forward stepped up and sent the substitute Joshua Griffiths the wrong way.
Moments later Croatia thought they had tripled their lead when Beljo's pull-back was directed into the path of Kacavenda just outside the six-yard area, but Griffiths' incredible reactions denied him from close range - not holding on the ball initially before gratefully grasping onto the ball.
England were proving to be relentless in their search to pull one back but Croatia's goalkeeper was not having it; first denying Cole Palmer with a fine reaction save, before again denying Noni Madueke at the near post then doing the same for Jacob Ramsey in the 60th-minute.
Soon after the goalkeeper produced his finest save of the night to deny substitute Morgan Gibbs-White. Moments after coming on, the Nottingham Forest midfielder met Doyle's free-kick from the right with a diving header towards the goal at the back post, but was left in disbelief as Katorski somehow clawed the ball off the line.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper continued to thrive under pressure, first holding onto Skipp's curling effort from outside the area, then claiming the ball at the feet of Palmer, who had capitalised on a defensive error inside the area. Moments later, having taken inspiration from his opposite number, Griffiths did the same to deny Beljo his second.
Carley's side thought they had pulled on back in the latter stages of the match as the ball feel fortunately for substitute Emile Smith Rowe, following defensive miscommunication from a corner, but Katorski again did brilliantly to get down to his right to save from close range.
Katorski perhaps got overconfident late on as he rushed out to deal with a ball over his defence from Wood in the 87th-minute. Gibbs-White beat him to the ball as brought down by the 'keeper. The 23-year-old stepped up to take the resulting penalty and converted it.
England pushed hard for an equaliser in the dying minutes, but Croatia's resilience proved to much and earned them an impressive win.
Player of the match - Dominik Kotarski
Despite the plethora of well-known talent on display at Craven Cottage, it was Croatia's shot-stopper that stole the limelight in what was an incredible performance.
The 23-year-old, who plies his tried with PAOK in Greece, showcased his ability with so many saves that you would be excused for losing count. While a number of them were straight at him, he showed great positional awareness to be in the right place to deal with them, and when he was required to make a sensational save, he produced.
While conceding the late penalty was a blemish on his night, Kotarski's performance will no doubt have people talking about him from now on.