For anyone wandering past Henman Hill at a little after 5pm, they never would have guessed that Brian Cipenga had just scored. Few gasps, few groans, few cries of despair. Just the usual rumble of chatter, the popping of corks, and the pouring of champagne.

You would, in all honesty, barely have known England were playing a World Cup match at all. Some napped under the late afternoon sun in their straw hats and shades as many more meandered to and fro between the courts. Most were just watching the tennis. Daily Mail Sport sat on Court One as kick-off approached and there was no mass exodus as 5pm arrived, not with Coco Gauff a game away from a shock exit to Solana Sierra.

On the big screens in front of the Hill, Gauff made her comeback while, on Centre Court – where tickets for Wednesday ranged from £100 to £135 – the French Open champion Mirra Andreeva was in the early stages of defeat to the 2024 Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejcikova.

The All England Club, one of the few places in the country seemingly immune to World Cup fever.

If you looked close enough, a few couples or groups of mates kept an eye on proceedings either on their phones or iPads propped up on the grass, like the young man in his England shirt with ‘Gerrard 4’ on the back, or Carlisle United fan Steve and his Manchester United pal Chris, who opted not to make the most of their Centre Court tickets while Thomas Tuchel’s men floundered in Atlanta.

Mirra Andreeva was on Centre Court as England kicked off against DR Congo

‘We were always going to come here to watch the football,’ said Steve. ‘We were on Centre watching Sinner, and it probably finished at a good time. We will go back for Novak Djokovic later. We might go back in 10 minutes, to be honest!’

‘It’s just a shame it’s not on one of the screens,’ added Jonny.

It was never going to be. The departing All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton confirmed this week they wouldn’t have it on any television around the grounds, let alone the big ones.

‘Clearly, if people have got their phones, then we’re not going to prevent people from watching the football,’ said Bolton.

Thank goodness, then, for the free Wimbledon Wi-Fi.

‘We are trying to get the best of both worlds,’ said Nottingham Forest fan Chris and his partner Lorna, watching on Lorna’s phone at the foot of the Hill while Chris poured another drink from his bottle of fizz. ‘We watched Sinner finish, which sounds awful for Mirra Andreeva, but we watched the first game of her match. I thought we’d come and get some refreshments. Safe to say, so far, tennis is beating the football. We did Henley yesterday, Wimbledon today, back to reality tomorrow.’

On Centre Court, you got the sense that something must be happening somewhere as Krejcikova and Andreeva slugged it out in front of a half-empty crowd, though the proud English golf trio of Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and their Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald remained in their seats in the Royal Box throughout the entirety of the England first half.

Diehard Everton fan Fleetwood left at half-time and didn’t return. Rose, Donald and even Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, clad in his Masters green jacket, all joined him before the end.

There was to be no repeat of Novak Djokovic’s clash with Alexei Popyrin from two years ago when they had to stop the match so the Centre Court crowd could cheer Trent Alexander-Arnold’s triumphant penalty in the Euro 2024 shootout against Switzerland.

As Daily Mail Sport left Centre not long after, a man sat on a nearby bench with headphones in his ears and an iPad on his lap.

‘Are you watching the football,’ we ask.

‘Yep, it’s not good,’ he replied. ‘Not good at all.’

And then Harry Kane headed in the equaliser. Suddenly, if only for a moment, pockets of Wimbledon felt the fever. There was no eruption, no cups of Pimm’s or punnets of strawberries hurled into the air like those pints of beer at the Boxpark.

Crowds flock to a sunny Henman Hill to take in the Wimbledon action on Wednesday

There was a ripple of a cheer. A ‘reserved cheer’, as one onlooker put it, one that spread from the bar area near the front corner of Henman Hill, where clearly their internet connection was quicker than the rest, and spread its way up the hill like a Mexican wave.

From then on, all the phones came out. Wherever you looked across the grass, little groups huddled around screens to see if England could do it.

Meanwhile, staff in the corporate hospitality gathered around their mobile devices in the kitchens. In the media centre, journalists had the match on the screens above their desks. So, too, did the staff on the front desk.

As part of the new redevelopment of the grounds, the media centre windows are now made of frosted glass that conveniently stopped those wandering past from gathering around to peer in. When the championships have coincided with other major tournaments over the years, such as the Euros in 2024 and 2021, staff had to pull down the blinds to disperse the gathering crowd at the window.

This time, there were enough phone screens to go around. Another delayed cheer greeted Kane’s winner but a bigger one this time. No flying strawberries again, though.

When full-time came, a ripple of polite applause greeted England’s eventual safe passage into the last 16. The crowd on Centre Court did the same.

Two young boys leaped to their feet, punched their fists and roared. They attempted to start a chant of ‘En-ger-land!’ but to no avail. The Hill had already moved on. World Cup fever had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. Anyone for tennis?