World Cup soccer fans stick to tradition with long-awaited Panini set

The long-standing tradition of Panini World Cup stickers is back with less than 100 days to go before the start of Qatar 2022! Here’s what you need to know about this year’s edition. 

Sticker fans, rejoice!

The long-awaited 2022 FIFA World Cup Panini stickers will be released Wednesday, Aug. 24 in North America as sticker collectors across the globe look to complete their albums.

For the first time ever, the U.S. version of the soccer stickers will include limited edition parallels — much like what you see with sports trading cards — within packs.

Gold edition stickers are only available on Panini America’s website and are different from the usual white-border stickers. Other parallels come in blue, red, purple, green and black.

World Cup Panini stickers set, explained

The 80-page album features 670 stickers — 50 of them silver foil — and can be purchased at retail locations across the United States and Canada. The stickers feature 18 players from each of the 32 nations that qualified for the finals.

Panini, based in Italy, first introduced a World Cup sticker album ahead of the 1970 World Cup. Since then, it has captivated collectors across the planet.

The World Cup, which kicks off on Nov. 20, will be contested in Qatar. It is the first time the World Cup will be played in the winter and in the Middle East.

World Cup stickers have become increasingly popular in the United States over the last few years, especially at a time when the overall sports collectibles market has seen a spike in interest during the pandemic.

Collectors who need to complete their albums often go to the secondary market — places like the online auction site eBay or Facebook Marketplace — to buy stickers or seek out in order to trade.

Twitter was abuzz with collectors waiting to buy packs.

https://twitter.com/MrPassmore/status/1562114779535253504

https://twitter.com/venezio71/status/1559816468707086336

Some lucky fans had already got their hands on some.