'Close to perfect'

England's appearance in the semifinals of the Nations League, which are set to be held in Portugal in June, offers another chance to reach its first major final since winning the 1966 World Cup.

Following the 3-2 Nations League win over Spain in Seville last month, this tournament has been a serious statement of intent from Southgate's team and it will go into 2019 with great expectations.

"We know where we sit; we aren't perfect but we are improving," Southgate said.

"Slowly we are starting to beat those top teams. We have learned so much from this year, because you have to be close to perfect to beat those teams."

Despite dominating the first half, England fell behind in the 56th minute.

Kramaric was allowed time and space to turn in the area and the Hoffenheim forward took full advantage, clipping a shot that deflected off Eric Dier and looped over goalkeeper Jordan Pickford's desperate dive.

But England kept its composure, equalizing in the 78th minute when Lingard tapped in from Joe Gomez's long throw.

England's deserved winner arrived in the 85th minute.

Leftback Ben Chilwell curled over a teasing low freekick and Kane timed his run to perfection, guiding his shot past Lovre Kalinic from close range.

Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic claimed his side had paid the price for its exertions in Thursday's win against Spain.

"It was very difficult for us to recover after the match against Spain. We don't have such a big squad," he said.

"In the last 15 minutes we lost concentration, which could be down to our condition physically."

Referencing a popular England fans' song, Dalic backed Southgate's team to fulfill its potential soon.

"They have a young and fast team. It's coming home, very soon!" he said.

Agence France-Presse