I’ve had the luck to attend matches at 7 FIFA World Cups. The first was a single match at USA 1994. It was Germany v Spain in Chicago that ended in a 1-1 draw. My girlfriend’s dad got me the ticket from his company. The second was three matches at France 1998, with at least the first being Netherlands v Belguim in Kaiserslautern, and I honestly cannot remember the rest. I skipped the Japan / Korea World Cup as I was just out of University and was relatively poor. The third was 3 matches at Germany 2006, the first was Spain v Saudi Arabia, where we got 4th row seats; the second was the infamous ‘Battle of Nuremberg’ between Portugal v Netherlands which broke the record for number of Yellow and Red cards; and the third was Germany v Argentina in Berlin, with Germany advancing in PKs. The fourth we extended our ‘normal travel radius’ and attended the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The first match was Paraguay v Japan, with Japan losing in PKs; the second was Argentina v Germany, with Germany winning 4-0; and the third was a raucus Uruguay v Netherlands, which ended with Netherlands going ahead 3-2. The fifth was in Brazil in 2014, where we saw Columbia v Urugay in Rio, with Columbia advancing; Brazil v Columbia in a sea of yellow fan jerseys; and finally Argentina v Netherlands in Sao Paulo with Argentina winning the Semi-Final in PKs. The sixth was in Russia in 2018, where we we saw Argentina v Nigeria with Argentina advancing after a wonderful goal by Messi; Spain v Russia in Moscow, with Russia winning in PKs; France v Belguim in the Semi-Final with France progressing; and for my first time, the Final in Moscow with France v Croatia, with France taking the trophy. The seventh was in Qatar in 2022, seeingFrance v Poland in the round of 16 with France progressing; France v England in the QuarterFinals with France winning again (and Harry Kane missing a penalty kick), Argentina v Croatia (where we somehow got front row tickets), with Argentina winning; and the Final with France v Argentina – where somehow Argentina lost a two-goal lead, the match went into extra time, and subsequently PKs, where Argentina won their first World Cup in some 30+ years.

I’ve only seen two Finals, but this photo is at the start of the World Cup Final in 2022, where they displayed the famous trophy before the match, and the second is from when Lionel Messi accepted the trophy the Argentina National Team.

Sony A7R IV | FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM | 200 mm | f/2.8 | 1/250 | ISO320

Sony A7R IV | FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM | 70 mm | f/2.8 | 1/50 | ISO1000