Many fans had watched the match on open-air screens, and sat head-in-hands as the whistle blew on the humiliating scoreline. It was England's worst defeat in the tournament which they entered for the first time in 1950.
There was anger that England were denied a second goal when a shot from Frank Lampard clearly crossed the line but an acknowledgement the team had been outplayed.
"England crash out - but Germans deserve victory," was the Mirror's verdict on its website, a sharp change from its jingoistic front page cover.
"Fabio's flops are battered in Bloemfontein," lamented the Sun.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who broke away from G20 summit talks in Toronto to watch the match with his German counterpart Angela Merkel, admitted it was a "disappointing" result.
DRIFTED AWAY
At the Glastonbury music festival, organisers set up two giant screens to cater for some 80,000 supporters - roughly half the total crowd - but some drifted away even before the end.
That was contrasted with excitement ahead of the match when fans queued for up to six hours before kick-off, despite sweltering temperatures.
Demand for places had been so great some fans were forced to listen to the action on the radio.
Still, the message from disappointed festival goers was that the show must go on.
"There is definitely more to life than football," said John Hutcheon, a 24-year-old from Hull who was wearing an England football shirt along with thousands of others.
"The atmosphere was good until we starting going downhill in the second half," he added.
Jessica, also 24, was equally stoic in defeat.
"I'll probably have a sulk for a couple of hours, then drink plenty and probably get over it," she said, sporting a cowboy hat and sunglasses.
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