With just under a month to go before the FIFA World Cup kicks off, thousands of people are filling Argentine plazas, strategizing to win a different game that has become a cherished part of the quadrennial competition: collecting and trading stickers to complete the official World Cup stickerbook.
A Half-Century Tradition
For more than half a century, Panini stickerbooks have been a treasured element of the World Cup experience. Schools, plazas, and even offices become hubs for bartering coveted rare stickers and duplicates laid out ready to be exchanged.
In South America, swapping stickers is even more significant than simply collecting them. WhatsApp groups, apps, and websites have popped up to facilitate trades, turning it into a widespread social activity.
Sunday's Gathering in Buenos Aires
On Sunday, throngs of people gathered in the heart of Buenos Aires, exchanging multicolored decks of stickers featuring some of the world's most famous soccer players. Some doled them out on tables like poker dealers. Children cradled books where they carefully pasted the stickers.
“This connects you with the world. Everyone does it,” said Juan Valora, a fan collecting stickers with his girlfriend. “And if this was virtual, you wouldn’t be face to face looking at the cards and trading them. I think you’d miss out a bit on the human touch.”
Largest Collection Ever
Panini launched its largest sticker collection ever for this World Cup, coinciding with the increase in participating countries from 32 to 48. Each pack contains seven stickers, and the price in both Argentina and Uruguay is around $1.50. The legendary stickerbooks, which can sell online for thousands of dollars, will come to an end after the 2030 World Cup when Fanatics takes over as FIFA’s exclusive sticker partner.
Some collectors now avoid trading by buying boxes of up to 104 sticker packs for $180, payable in installments, with bundled packages and albums. Even “rare” stickers like those of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, or Kylian Mbappé are available.
“It’s a way to avoid spending extra money to finally complete it,” said Matías Inglesi, a software developer and father of 9-year-old Lucas, who spends about $20 a week on the hobby.
Children's Cherished Goal
For many children, completing the album is an even more cherished goal than their national team winning the World Cup. Parents, eager to please them, take over to help meet their goal.
Child psychologist Agustina Zerbinatti says that more than just a fun challenge, the activity helps children develop fine motor skills and learn “from geography, knowing which languages are spoken in each country, number sequencing, and notions of cardinality and ordinality.”
