On Monday music pulsated from some of the bars on Calle Genova, a narrow thoroughfare in Mexico City’s heart that rarely lives in silence. The clock was yet to strike 11am, but, spilling out on to the street, a healthy crowd of patrons were picking up where they had left off. Perhaps they had never stopped at all. National team shirts were on full display and, had anyone lived under a news blackout for 15 hours, they may have drawn a wildly different conclusion about the previous night’s events.

The truth was more evident to anyone who, upon returning from Estadio Azteca, made a beeline for Paseo de la Reforma. Long after Mexico’s last-16 victory over Ecuador this vast boulevard had been teeming, an affirmative national moment bringing 1.4 million people on to the streets. But it was virtually empty three and a half hours after England had shattered the dreams of El Tri, the clean-up operation from the evening’s mass screening already in full swing and remaining revellers confined to the sidestreets.

Nonetheless, Mexico’s pain was mixed with smiles. The revelry did continue more modestly away from those quiet major arteries and reflections were largely upbeat. There was universal acknowledgment Mexico had wrung everything they could from a genuine World Cup classic; a bittersweet sense the team played well enough to earn more and might have done if Jordan Pickford had not been in sensational form for England.

“A setback that will hurt for eternity,” wrote El Universal, one of Mexico’s biggest newspapers, paying tribute to “an epic performance against England”. The feeling lingered that Mexico had been architects of their own heroic downfall, particularly through the weak defending that allowed Anthony Gordon to win the penalty that effectively put the tie beyond them.

The country’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, sought to maintain the positive afterglow. “We showed everyone that Mexico is the best host in the world, with happy and united people,” she wrote on social media.

It is a little more complicated than that given the kidnapping crisis, cartel violence and other social problems that bombastic sporting events reliably gloss over. But the first part of Sheinbaum’s statement certainly chimed with the sentiments of England’s fans, who reported being bowled over by their hosts’ warmth and graciousness in defeat.

While Estadio Azteca more than justified the mythology that surrounds it by generating a fevered, crackling atmosphere on Sunday night there was no sense of genuine hostility towards their guests. Half-hearted chants of Puta towards a group of journalists entering the ground were as visible as any animosity became. Fans of both persuasions mingled on the concourses and in those bars off Paseo de la Reforma, the songs and group photos continued into the night.

Just as that was a wrap for a slick but ultimately limited side, the final whistle called time on Mexico’s co-hosting of this tournament. If the huge share occupied by the USA constitutes the 2026 World Cup’s heart, Mexico has been its soul. Football matters here; it is engrained in society and not simply an entertainment accessory. It should be no denigration of the mostly successful American efforts to foster a pleasant experience for guests if, simultaneously, a stint in Mexico during the knockout stages felt invigorating for the spirit.

Yet the Azteca will sit unused for the rest of the summer; so will the stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, the latter a jaw-dropping location. The Azteca lacks the sheen and five-star accoutrements of its peers, but is all the more enchanting for that. Problems with access and surrounding infrastructure were largely ironed out as the tournament progressed so there was no reason this monument to football could not have outlasted its national team. Perhaps, to the enthralled long-haul visitor, less is more. There can be value in scarcity. But would it have hurt to give Mexico a stake in proceedings for at least one more week?

There will be hope that the added visibility for Mexico’s players acts as a springboard. Nobody who watched the 17-year-old Gilberto Mora, who more than held his own against England and ran rings around Ecuador, believed they were witnessing anything but the birth of a star.

Mexico sneaks below the radar because its league, which pays well and draws sizable crowds, offers a comfortable home for its talents. Players who do seek moves can be priced out by clubs that do not urgently need the money. Added mobility and exposure in Europe’s top divisions would help this football hotbed of 133 million realise its gargantuan potential.