The longest day, the saddest exit, the sorriest fans...

Millions of football fans rose early on the longest day of the year yesterday with hopes of an historic England victory and abandoning work for an extended weekend of partying.

Millions of football fans rose early on the longest day of the year yesterday with hopes of an historic England victory and abandoning work for an extended weekend of partying.

Many watched from the convenience of their sitting rooms but an estimated 25,000 pubs screened the game, and authorities erected giant screens in several cities to accommodate swelling national pride. Five million fans are thought to have watched over a drink in the pub; many companies laid on free breakfasts to prevent mass absenteeism and, in schools, assemblies were replaced with live coverage.

Roads and public transport were unusually busy from sunrise as the public raced to destinations in time for kick-off, aided by specially chartered train and bus services.

The largest crowd for the quarter-final match gathered at London's Trafalgar Square, where an estimated 12,000 supporters heard the Opera Babes perform the national anthem before the game was screened. Around the square fans draped in flags of St George climbed trees or perched on top of the lions at the foot of Nelson's column amid intense competition for the best view.

England's goal, scored after 23 minutes by Michael Owen, was greeted by a roar from the crowd to rival any of the New Year's celebrations held in the square. But by 9.20am, most supporters were heading for their offices, complaining about a "lucky" Brazil goal and the failure to capitalise on the sending-off of its scorer, Ronaldinho.

About 90 Metropolitan Police officers were on duty. They made five arrests for drunkenness and one for possession of drugs.

James Illingworth, a fire prevention officer who had risen at 4.30am to travel on a specially chartered football train from Brighton to central London, preferred to dwell on the positive aspects of the past 20 days. "The football and the jubilee celebrations have created a healthy sense of patriotism that is far too rare," he said. "There's a lot to be proud of what the team has achieved and I'll enjoy the memory of beating Argentina for a long time to come."

In Leeds, more than 1,000 fans gathered at a screen in Millennium Square, undeterred by a ban on public drinking. In Manchester, a crowd of 800 watched the game at the Co- operative Bank's headquarters, while the mood at Exchange Square in the city suffered a double blow when it began to rain as the final whistle sounded.

In the City of London, an estimated 1,000 people watched the game on a screen hired by the financial news group Bloomberg and erected outside their offices at Finsbury Square. The majority left in a downcast mood straight after the match.

An accounts clerk, Dan Brook, 20, said: "This is absolutely terrible, I was truly hopeful. The heat out there can't have helped the England team. I can't believe we lost to such a bad goal, the second one was terrible. I'm sulking now. I'll go back to work but drown my sorrows this evening."

Trading in the City, which began half an hour into the game, got off to a subdued start. The FTSE 100 index of blue-chip shares slumped at one point to the lowest level since 21 September but rallied after the final whistle. Economists at Investec, an investment bank, got in early to catch the game there, briefing traders at half-time instead of the usual 8am.

Martin Dobson, the head dealer at NatWest Stockbrokers, said: "There was nothing happening and the market just drifted. No business was going through."

At Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, New Age travellers gathered around two portable televisions powered by a portable generator to watch the game after celebrating the summer solstice. Jon Powell, of Frome, Somerset, said: "We tried to channel the mystical power of the circle to our boys all the way over in Japan. But I think that somewhere along the way the energy was misdirected to the Brazilian players."

The team's exit triggered Britain's second biggest power surge. The National Grid said that in the minutes after the match 2,600 megawatts were consumed – the equivalent of one million kettles being switched on. Power surged by 2,800 megawatts at half-time when England played Germany in the 1990 World Cup.

The Queen was said to be "sharing the nation's disappointment" at the result while Tony Blair said he was "devastated" by England's defeat. He paid a warm tribute to the team for its World Cup run and praised the behaviour of English fans.

The Prime Minister watched the game in the UK delegation's office at the European Union summit in Seville, Spain. His traditional breakfast-time meeting with another EU leader was firmly off the agenda and he ordered his officials to ensure that nothing got in the way of watching the game.

Mr Blair broke off from a working lunch to ring England's coach, Sven Goran Eriksson. He told him: "The whole country is very proud of the team, of you and how we played throughout the tournament."