Forget the closest presidential campaign in decades. Mexico was engrossed on Wednesday in a different national drama: soccer's World Cup, where the national team bungled its way into the final 16.

Fan waits for the start of the Group D World Cup 2006 soccer match between Portugal and Mexico in Gelsenkirchen June 21, 2006.[Reuters]

The capital's horrendous traffic paused, schoolchildren put down pens, and office workers switched off computer screens as tens of millions gathered around televisions to see Mexico lose 2-1 to Portugal but still qualify for the tournament's next round.

The soccer excitement in Germany was a welcome distraction from the hard-fought Mexican presidential campaign that has dominated the airwaves and conversations for five months.

"It's more interesting to watch football than those dummies talking nonsense and fighting each other," Claudia Alvarez, 42, a human resources officer, said in a bar.

The July 2 election is a very tight race, with leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador slightly ahead of conservative rival Felipe Calderon in opinion polls. Electoral authorities have stepped in to stop the two from making libelous attacks on each other in media ads.

Calderon says Lopez Obrador is a populist who will bring Mexico to financial ruin. The leftist accuses the former energy minister, Calderon, of wanting to protect big-business privileges and giving lucrative government contracts to a relative.

The smart money, both in politics and soccer, has bet on Calderon getting a boost in the election if Mexico does well in Germany.

The conservative is a soccer fan who peppers his speeches with references to the sport, while Lopez Obrador likes baseball. Calderon was embarrassed last week when he predicted Mexico would beat Angola 4-1. Instead, it only tied 0-0.

He was more guarded after Wednesday's game.

"The players' efforts were not in vain. Anything can happen, but Mexico's destiny will be decided here a week on Sunday, not over there," Calderon said in the southern state of Chiapas.

All the main candidates have sent messages of support to the Mexican team or staged photo opportunities with themselves dressed in the national team colors.

But Tomas Saldivar, a 29-year-old butcher, said Mexican voters were too sophisticated to be taken in by that kind of election stunt.

"It's all soccer in Mexico," he said. "There's no basketball or swimming. But even though people aren't educated, they're not stupid."