England find their destiny back in their own hands after Israel's shock 2-1 win over Russia in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening.
And the picture became even brighter when group leaders Croatia were beaten 2-0 in Macedonia.
Crouch, who will lead the attack in the absence of the injured Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, said: "We all know it would be a huge blow for the nation if we don't qualify but we have tried to stay positive.
"We've had to believe Israel could get a result, they've done that and now I think the atmosphere at Wembley on Wednesday will be fantastic and we will all want to be involved in the game.
"You want to be in charge of your own destiny and it's been frustrating that we've had to come down to waiting for another result for us to qualify.
"We believe we're better than that. It's not a position we should have been in. We've been frustrated that we've been in this predicament.
"But we are where we are with our hopes back in our own hands and we have to play as well as we can and get the right result."
