World Cup Sticker Album: What is new and how much will the 2026 edition cost?

Collecting stickers to fill the World Cup album is one of the traditions that has accompanied generations of Brazilian fans. The album will officially launch on 1 May, but the pre-sale begins on Wednesday, 1 April.

For the 2026 tournament, Panini will debut the publication featuring 48 nations, an unprecedented number of participants in the competition.

In an edition packed with new features, the sticker count jumps from 670 (the average for the 2022 edition) to 980, an increase of roughly 300. The previous record was held by the 2018 edition, for the World Cup hosted in Russia, which contained 682 images.

On the Panini website, the basic album is sold for R$24.90 (approximately £3.50). Bundles featuring the hardback album and various quantities of stickers are also available, costing up to R$359.90 (around £52).

The album is also expected to follow the standards of previous editions, with 20 players representing each nation, alongside 68 special stickers depicting stadiums, the official tournament ball, the World Cup trophy and the Panini logo.

Amid the anticipation, a fresh question has also emerged: whether Iran will be confirmed for the World Cup. Iran's sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, announced that the country is unlikely to take part in the tournament after the United States, co-hosts of the event, launched air strikes against the nation.

However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has guaranteed that the side will take part in the competition.

How much will it cost to complete the album?

Panini Brazil has confirmed that each packet will cost R$7 (around £1), with envelopes now containing seven stickers instead of five. Another anticipated change is the increase in the size of the physical album, which is expected to run to 112 pages. Previously, the average was between 80 and 90.

As a result, the average outlay required to complete the album is expected to exceed R$1,000 (roughly £140).

There are also different prices and formats of the book on offer. The paperback album costs R$24.90 (about £3.50), while the hardback edition will sell for R$74.90 (approximately £10.50). The hardback album in silver or gold costs R$79.90 (around £11.50), and finally, the Premium Trophy Sleeve Box is priced at R$359.90 (about £52) and can be purchased exclusively on the Panini website.

Searches for the album have also risen

Anticipation for the World Cup sticker album, with fewer than 100 days remaining until the tournament, has driven a 60% increase in searches for the product over the past 30 days, according to Google Trends figures cited by the newspaper O Globo.

According to the platform, the 2022 edition currently holds the record for searches about the album in Brazil. That year, queries quadrupled compared with the 2018 tournament, registering a leap of 330%.