Let’s celebrate the best news out here so far. I don’t mean England qualifying for the knock stages. I mean the transport system has improved beyond belief.

For those of you who didn’t read my first diary piece that opening week was quite a challenge to get from the media centres to the games on time.  

About a couple of days after the Saudi versus Argentina game we noticed an improvement. Whether the drivers have now learned to read maps or the worst ones have been sacked or they've had a bit more training I don’t know.

They’ve also been enforcing the bus lanes a bit more, so we get moved away from stadiums in the opposite direction to the fans. That makes covering two games a day a little bit more doable, and means a bit more sleep. 

I was averaging about four hours a night in the first week. Not ideal when I am going to be working from November 19 right through to December 7 without a day off. It does take a toll. You end up snoozing on the buses transporting you between games.

We don’t get back to our apartment much before 2am most nights. I’m up to about 14,000 steps a day now, which is quite a challenge lugging all the heavy camera equipment around. My feet are bearing the brunt. The best way I can describe it is like not going to the gym for a year and then suddenly starting to exercise again.

But I don’t want this to sound like moaning. Most people reading this will be going, ‘He’s working at the World Cup. What a dream job.’ Which it is, but it is not all glamour.  

The easiest part is sat pitchside taking the pictures. But you also need the team back home, and the guys at Focus Images to turn around the edits and get them out so we can try and get as many publications as possible.

You also need some luck, in terms of your position around the pitch. I’ve had a bit of a barren run after a great start to the tournament, with the England versus Iran game, and those Lionel Messi images I was talking about last week when he scored his penalty against Saudi.

For about seven or eight games I was officially a curse. Or the 'celebration repellent' as I like to say. What do I mean by that? Well, whichever corner of the pitch I was sat you could guarantee the goals and the celebrations would be at any of the other three corners.

For the England versus Wales game on Tuesday I was in front of the Welsh supporters, so nothing in the first half and I am at the opposite end for that Marcus Rashford free kick, and the other two England goals. I did get some decent frames from behind Rashford, but the stronger pictures will be from the photographers behind the goal England were attacking.

It is very hard to get publications if you are not in those prime positions, and the biggest operations out here, like Getty Images, they might have four or five photographers at each game. Some pitchside, some up high.

I’m loving the fan pictures out here though. The Argentina versus Mexico game was bonkers. Two sets of south American fans going crazy and so passionate. The noise was off the chart.

It was quite a subdued atmosphere for the England versus Wales game. At least at the start. Obviously, the England fans got louder as the goals were in. I’d say they probably just shaded the amount of fans inside the stadium that night, maybe 60:40 in their favour. I know a few who have come out, and it felt like there was more travelled between the USA and the Welsh games. You might find that is the case again for this weekend and Senegal. 

There is another upside to this mad schedule. I’ve lost a belt size now because you are trying to eat on the move all the time.

We have to pay for the food in the media centres, but it has been quite good. Chicken biryani is my favourite at the moment. I have to say the food overall is better than what we got in Russia four years ago, which was a lot of processed stuff. The best place to eat is the main media centre hub in Doha. You can pay £12 for an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Basically if you can get there first every day, then you can stock up. There is also a nice roof terrace to eat your food which is lovely when the sun goes down.

What I’m hoping is once the group stages are over we can actually get out and sample some of the local culture and local cuisine. Maybe try a souk.

At present you really could be anywhere in the world, because you exist in this work bubble. That was the great thing about Russia. It was such a vast, diverse country and the games were so spread out you did get to travel and enjoy all that country had to offer. 

You can check out Paul's work in Qatar at Focus Images