The 2022 World Cup Panini sticker album has been released – but to fill it, football fans will likely have to spend more than they think.
The popular pastime is featured at every World Cup, and fans have been collecting stickers for over 50 years.
The first edition of the World Cup in England was launched for the 1970 tournament in Mexico.
In the early days, a pack of four stickers would have cost around 5p, but now, with packs with an extra sticker, they’re putting collectors back 90p.
According to author and football finance expert Kieran Maguire, there are 670 stickers to collect for this year’s album which, assuming all are purchased on the first go, will cost £120.60.
However, Mr Maguire explained that based on probability, it is more likely that the fan will return £883.80.
“The Panini World Cup 2022 sticker album is out,” he wrote on Twitter.
“That’s 90p for five stickers and there’s £670 to collect. It works out to £120.60 if you have to collect all and swap all the parts, but if not swapping, it’s probabilistic. , you’ll have to pay £883.80.”
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Maguire, 60, said he first started collecting stickers in 1970 and still does.
He said: “I first collected in 1970 but didn’t have enough because I didn’t have enough pocket money.
He explained that “there was a strong increase in 2018 from 50p to 80p and another increase from 80p to 90p in 2022” for a pack of stickers.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the price will drop any time soon, with Mr Maguire warning it could hit £1,500 by 2026.
“When the World Cup grows to 48 teams in 2026 from 32 now, the cost of making an album will be at least £1,500 unless you use the swap method,” he said.
“Fortunately, there are many online swap sites around these days that help keep costs down.”
How much did it cost in the last World Cup?
Based on calculate by Professor Paul Harper, a mathematician at Cardiff University, the typical cost to fill a 2018 album is around £774.
That year, the cost of a pack of 5 stickers increased from 50p to 80p, and the album also included more stickers, with 682 to collect.
If a collector is extremely lucky and never has copies in the packages they buy, Professor Harper explains that they will need a minimum of 137 packs to complete the entire book, which costs £109, 60.
Panini has also released the official FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Adrenalyn XL card collection, which includes several categories and national teams participating in the play-offs as well as the teams competing in the tournament.
