Manchester is up there with the greatest footballing cities in the world. But even here, the fans had hardly seen a game like it.

In the early hours of Monday morning, at Europe’s biggest World Cup fan park, as the final whistle blew after an agonising 11 minutes of injury time, the crowd cheered with a roar loud enough to wake anyone in Manchester still asleep.

As England secured their place in the quarter-finals, having played with 10 men for most of the second half, it was as much a celebration as a collective exhale.

The long-awaited final whistle saw plastic pint pots flying through the air, people lifted on to shoulders and scarves and flags held aloft as the DJ threw on Oasis’s Wonderwall.

Here – a stone’s throw from Manchester Piccadilly station – two venues, Freight Island and Depot Mayfield, have combined to host the most England fans that can be found in one place this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

And Manchester hasn’t seen a wild weeknight party like this since Oasis rolled into town for their run of homecoming gigs almost exactly a year ago.

“It’s the atmosphere, it’s being among everyone,” Jodie Warbuton says. “I think you feel like if you’re not involved, you’ve missed out.”

She is off work tomorrow, but her friend and colleague Leah Owen isn’t – they both work for JD Outdoor, but her boss has told staff they can start a bit later in the morning.

Owen thinks that being here tonight will be worth the lack of sleep – and she’s already excited for the next match. “I think if we can get through this, we’ve got more of a chance,” she says. “I feel confident.”

Before the half-time whistle had even blown, England fans had already erupted into their first chorus of Three Lions. With Jude Bellingham’s brace, the goals coming just two minutes apart, things were looking good for England.

But the party atmosphere soon turned tense; Mexico scored just before the break; and following the restart, England’s Jarell Quansah was sent off after a high tackle, both teams scored from penalties less than 10 minutes apart, and England had to fight to hold their lead with 10 men.

It all came to a nail-biting – but ultimately jubilant – end just after 4am. With the match not even kicking off until 2am, England fans were preparing to go into the week with some bleary eyes – and sore heads.

Joe Murray-Brown was working at 9am in the morning at a golf club – and then has to drive to Birmingham. “I’ve got a big day,” he says. “I’ve got to get some sleep. I won’t be able to get any sleep though.”

Callum Darcy has also not booked tomorrow off work. “I’m a scaffolder, so I don’t think everything will be level,” he says. “I was supposed to be in at 7am, but my boss has given us until 12.”

“It’s an amazing atmosphere,” he says. “It’s just great, everyone together.”

Darcy has come to watch with a group of friends – they all live in Bolton in Greater Manchester, but it is their first time at the fan park.

“We wanted to come to the biggest fan park,” says Lucy Kilcoyne, who works in a pub. “It’s amazing.”

“I love the multicultural thing of it,” their friend Sam Taylor says – earlier, the outdoor area had been packed with Brazil fans as they watched Norway striker Erling Haaland put an end to their World Cup dreams.

Taylor doesn’t have work tomorrow – but he does have to get up for his son’s nursery graduation. “I’ll be there,” he says.

And England’s success was being celebrated here by – as Manchester poet Tony Walsh once said – those who were drawn here as well as those who were born here.

Andrea Valerie, Andrew Rinaldy and Arbi Fausta are international students at Manchester University, and all from Indonesia.

They came tonight because “we wanted to feel the atmosphere, we don’t get this in our home country”, Rinaldy says.

“Football here is very different,” Valerie adds.

“We’ve watched every England game,” Rinaldy says. “It’s been really exciting, especially the [DR Congo] one.”

“We want England to win – all the way to the final,” Fausta says. “It’s coming home!”

Angelica Ayalin, a PhD student from the Philippines, says: “I’m here because I’d like to experience the football culture. I moved her a year ago and I knew nothing about football before.”

But now she has embraced the beautiful game, and even plays on a team herself. She is wearing an England cowboy hat – a lucky charm that she has worn during every game so far.

“I’m so invested in this game that I only learned a year ago,” she says.

Darryl Worton travelled 140 miles from Stockton-on-Tees to be at the fan park. “I wanted to come down here tonight for the atmosphere, to be part of it all,” he says.

“Where I’m from they’re all small venues – this is a massive venue, and it’s got a lot of England all in one venue, and they’re all enjoying themselves.”

His friend Gayle Valentine, a cleaner from Manchester, thinks tonight has been “fantastic” – and she already has her plans for the morning sorted: “I’ll be in bed all day.”

Murray-Brown says tonight’s win was a “huge confidence boost” as it’s the “hardest game they’ve had so far”, and he now thinks “they’re going all the way”.

“I worry about Haaland,” says his friend Ciaran McGee, a wine waiter, but another of the group, Max Williams, says: “Their defence is quite leaky and our attack is better than theirs.”

Worton, who works in the retail sector, thinks England’s games are only going to get tougher from here, but is optimistic as the team prepare to face Norway in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

“I’m a Manchester City fan and I’m a huge Haaland fan, he’s marvellous,” Worton says. “He’s on for the Golden Boot, but hopefully Harry Kane scores a couple and matches him.

“It’s them three words, isn’t it?” Worton said. “It’s coming home.”