The beloved football sticker album is set to be discontinued after 2030. Guardian writers share their fond memories and frustrations.
With this summer’s World Cup already facing scrutiny over political tensions, potential travel restrictions, and disputes about ticket costs, fans received another blow this week: the iconic Panini sticker book will cease production after 2030. Writers from The Guardian reflect on their personal experiences with the stickers.
‘Fear of Sticking It in the Album and Bringing Bad Luck’
Lorenzo Tondo
International correspondent
The last World Cup held in the United States was in the sunny summer of 1994, a tournament brimming with global stars: Bulgaria’s Hristo Stoichkov, Brazil’s Romário and Bebeto, the “Maradona of the Carpathians” Gheorghe Hagi, and even the real Diego Maradona, though near the end of his career. Yet the most coveted, prestigious Panini sticker—one collectors considered priceless—was that of Italy’s greatest player, perhaps the most iconic in the nation’s history: the Divine Ponytail, Roberto Baggio, who had won the Ballon d’Or the previous year.
As a Juventus fan, with Baggio playing for the club at the time, I had a life-sized poster of him on my bedroom door. I found his sticker shortly before the World Cup began on June 17. My album remained incomplete, filled with duplicates, and was never finished. But who cared? I had Baggio! His sticker alone was worth the entire album—today it sells for around €30 on eBay.
Back then, in my small Sicilian hometown, stickers were traded among friends or used in games. One popular game involved placing a small stack of stickers on the floor and slapping your hand sharply next to the pile to flip some over and “win” them. No one would dare use the Baggio sticker for that; losing it would have been a disaster.
For a long time, I carried his sticker in my pocket like a trophy. Partly due to Sicilian superstition, I feared that sticking it into the album would jinx Italy. Eventually, I convinced myself to paste it in, and I paid the price: Baggio missed a penalty in the final, which Italy lost to Brazil. For years, I shared a sense of guilt with him over that defeat.
‘A Mind-Blowing Find at Primary School’
Gwyn Topham
Transport correspondent
When I finally cleared out my childhood home, long after a bereavement, some items were hard to let go, while others barely deserved a second glance. But the Panini sticker books stored in the loft were easy—they came with me. Those musty albums now occupy a plastic crate on my bedroom floor, much to my partner’s annoyance. I point out that we could sell them for hundreds of pounds on eBay (though that won’t happen).
Among them is the World Cup album for Mexico 86, filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly—a cherubic Gary Lineker, Maradona poised for the “Hand of God,” and a charmless spread of Mexico’s empty stadiums. Painstakingly completed, but not my prize Panini possession: th
