Argentina beats Croatia 3-0 to reach World Cup final

I felt crushed to have missed it. But there was no time for regret. Lusail Stadium, the final destination hosting Portugal versus Uruguay, was still 12 miles (20 kilometers) and an hour’s metro ride away.

In the train, elbows pressed into strangers’ torsos, heads squeezed under armpits. I wasn’t the only one trying to make both matches.

Rodrigo Gonzalez Cejas, a 42-year-old Argentine lawyer on the metro, said he didn’t mind missing Brazil’s last-minute goal. It was more important, he said, to see as many matches as possible.

He said he has frequently made it to three matches a day at this World Cup, leaving in the final minutes and running for his life to the next destination. I told him of my experiment and tried to understand why he put himself through such a grueling routine. “I love football,” Gonzalez Cejas replied simply, then rushed out of the train.

I was exhausted, my feet dragging. According to my phone, I’d walked just about nine miles (15 kilometers). But the sight of thousands upon thousands of spirited fans from all over the world converging on the gleaming stadium revived me.

With the thought that I had nowhere to run to next — other than my hotel bed long after midnight — I absorbed the atmosphere and stayed until the end to see Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0 to advance to the round of 16.

The lesson?

It is possible to see four World Cup matches in one day in Qatar. But in the future, I think I’ll stick to just one.