For most football fans, the World Cup holds a deep nostalgic appeal, rooted in childhood memories of first watching the tournament.
The brightly coloured flags and kits, the carnival atmosphere, spectacular goals and wild celebrations as the game’s biggest stars all gather together in one place.
The World Cup is a completely unique experience, a month-long feast of football that captivates supporters from every corner of the globe.
Many develop rituals and routines that stay with them throughout their lives, such as buying a Panini sticker album and spending too much money trying to fill it.
Collectors will be pleased to hear that the official Panini sticker album has already been released for this year’s World Cup, allowing their quest for completion to begin in earnest.
There are 670 stickers to collect in the latest album, with a pack of five now costing 90p, meaning that it will take at least £120.60 to fill.
More realistically, collectors will be likely to spend around £883.80 to acquire a full set, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire – but it can cost considerably less than that if you look for cheap Panini World Cup 2022 sticker deals.
The starter pack, featuring an album and five packs of stickers, retails for £4.99 and is available online, from newsagents and supermarkets, among other places.
Although the price of a pack of stickers has increased from 50p in 2014 and 80p in 2018, there are plenty of online exchanges where collectors can arrange to swap unwanted stickers, such as Stickermanager, Swapstick and LastSticker.
There are also Facebook communities that have been set up to facilitate trades and help collectors avoid unnecessary expense.
The Panini sticker album has been a staple part of the World Cup scene in England for more than 50 years, since it was first introduced for the 1970 tournament in Mexico, where Alf Ramsey’s side lost to West Germany in the quarter-finals.
Back then, Bobby Moore, Franz Beckenbauer and Pele were some of the biggest stars of the day. Now, the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Lionel Messi and Harry Kane reign supreme.
