LONDON - Beer, bacon and Beckham became England's breakfast of champions yesterday as millions postponed work, headed to pubs and cheered England at the World Cup.

There wasn't much of a morning rush hour - in fact, there wasn't much of anything going on in England at about 7:30 a.m. as most people gathered in front of television sets to watch the start of England's match against Nigeria in Japan.

It wasn't until the final whistle about 9:20 a.m. that the country breathed a collective sigh of relief - and headed to work - as England and its captain, David Beckham, gained a scoreless draw.

The result was good enough to move England into the second round of soccer's world championship.

And it also kept alive a newfound patriotic spirit among the English, who have been emboldened by events in recent weeks.

First, there were the huge celebrations marking Queen Elizabeth II's 50 years on the throne - a triumph of planning and patriotism that culminated with a throng of more than 1 million people at the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace.

Then, there was British boxer Lennox Lewis retaining his heavyweight titles by knocking out Mike Tyson.

And now, England is in the second round of the World Cup while such bitter rivals as France and Argentina are not.

"There is quite a lot of patriotism lately. We've had a few weeks of flag-waving," said Tim Phillips, a business manager with AOL who watched yesterday's game at the Churchill Arms pub in the Kensington section of London. Across the country, thousands of pubs took advantage of relaxed licensing laws and opened early for the match.

Inside the 200-year-old pub where Churchill memorabilia is displayed next to photos of American presidents and British prime ministers, patrons sat tensely and watched the game on two television sets. Some drank beer and ate bacon sandwiches. Others sipped coffee. There was virtually no conversation. Around here, football - as it is called - is said to be like life and death, only more important.

The English had a hard time trying to contain Nigeria. And the fans felt the pressure, groaning as scoring chances were frittered away, inhaling deeply when Nigeria rushed England's goal, and letting out a roar at the final whistle. Two minutes later, the crowd let out an even louder shout when Argentina, needing a win to advance, drew with Sweden and was sent out of the tournament.

"We're pretty football-obsessed, I'd say," Phillips said before running to work.

That obsession carries over to daily habits whenever England plays. The first-round opener against Sweden was on a Sunday morning, and hundreds of churches delayed services. The second game, against Argentina, virtually shut down the country Friday, with the lunch hour extending into the night.

"With this World Cup, I've been amazed with the amount of interest," said Gerry O'Brien, who runs the Churchill Arms. "It has created a lovely atmosphere, with everyone talking about it."

Part of the reason for the interest is that England, which won the World Cup in 1966, has a contending team led by a dashing star player, Beckham, and coached by a Swede, Sven-Goran Eriksson. The country had to swallow a lot of pride by bringing in an outsider to coach the national team, but Eriksson is now something of a national hero. An Ikea store in northern England has changed its name for the duration of the World Cup, calling itself Sven.

Also boosting interest is that people here seem to want to have a good time.

"Last year was so gloomy around here, with foot-and-mouth disease [in the British countryside] and the hijackings [in America] on September 11th," O'Brien said. "This has distracted everyone from gloom and doom. We have never needed so much happiness."

And that happiness has produced surprisingly widespread flag-waving in a country where such displays are often left to soccer hooligans and far-right extremists.

At the queen's Golden Jubilee, the preferred banner for millions was the red, white and blue Union flag that binds England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

But in the World Cup, the English are on their own and the favored flag is England's red-and-white Cross of St. George. About 30 million have been bought in recent weeks.

One such flag was placed in the cab of Jamie Taylor's truck, which was parked illegally for nearly two hours on Kensington Church Street, normally one of the busiest streets during rush hour in London. Taylor figured he would just slip into a pub to watch the match.

When the game ended, the truck was still there, without a ticket.

"Who's going to stop me?" Taylor said, pointing out that everyone else in the country was watching the match.

And what will happen if England wins the World Cup?

"We're all going to take two weeks off," Taylor said. "It'll be bigger than the Jubilee."