While the Republic's late late draw with Germany prompted wild celebrations on our own little island, England's victory over Argentina yesterday sent their fans into raptures.

The country ground to a halt for 109 nerve-wracking minutes as the nation took its longest collective lunchbreak to watch England's surprise victory.

City centres acorss the country resembled ghost towns as six million people took the day off, and those nominally working fled their offices to watch the action in nearby bars.

In Luton, a judge rearranged court times to watch the match, and in Bristol a couple delayed their wedding.

Tony Blair watched the match at his country home, and the Queen was informed of Beckham's goal at an agricultural show lunch.

Traffic on Britain's roads was noticeably reduced. "We didn't get a rush hour at all in the most congested parts of the south," said an AA spokesperson.

At one store in Kensington, west London, the manager, Stuart Townsend, said: "You don't normally see people pushing trolleys of champagne around in the morning, but sales over the last two days have easily gone up by 300 per cent."