ENGLAND fought back to qualify for the semifinals of the UEFA Nations League as Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane scored late goals in a pulsating 2-1 victory over Croatia, which was relegated from Group A4 after defeat at Wembley on Sunday.

England players were themselves facing the drop when Croatia’s Andrej Kramaric scored after 57 minutes but substitute Lingard and Kane netted in the 77th and 85th minutes at a vociferous Wembley to turn the group on its head.

Gareth Southgate’s side, which was knocked out in the semifinals of the World Cup by Croatia in July, had dominated for large periods but fell behind when Kramaric twisted and turned before firing in via a deflection off Eric Dier.

Yet Lingard poked home and Kane converted Ben Chilwell’s free kick to ensure England finished top of a group where all three teams — including Spain that started the day top but finished second — could have qualified.

England, which progresses to the finals in Portugal in June, finished with seven points, one ahead of Spain and three clear of Croatia, which was relegated to the second tier.

“Today was another big occasion with lots of pressure,” Southgate told reporters.

“But I thought we coped with it very well and in the first half we played so well. We had good chances and should have been ahead in the game. But then we had to show another side: our resilience and character.”

Meanwhile, Haris Seferovic starred with a hat trick as Switzerland staged a sensational comeback to thrash Belgium 5-2 in Lucerne on Sunday and qualify for the Nations League finals in dramatic fashion.

(SD-Agencies)