HISTORY OF WORLD CUP PANINI STICKERS (AND ALBUMS)

Here I will write short story about every Panini World Cup album. I will also introduce you some of the World Cup albums before Panini. Let's go.

It is hard to talk about albums before Panini. As you already know first World Cup was played back in 1930. I don't know anything about albums during 30s. And I doubt that there is any. On ebay you can see only some reprints about 1930, 1934 and 1938 World Cups. They are reprints but in my opinion is great to see for example pictures of first World Cup champion Uruguay. Or some other great teams from the past.

In 1950 we have album named “Balas Futebol“. Each team is presented with 11 stickers.

Next World Cup was held in Switzerland. For me known album from that year is “Fussball Welt Meisterschaft“ publisher is Kiddy. But this album was published after WC. Album includes players from several countries. There were more albums but they mostly have pictures from matches.

In 1958 we have album published by Importadores Peruanos. Name of album: “Campeonato Mundial de Futbol 1958 Suecia“. We also have reprint of this album in 2014. Each country has 16 player stickers. On John Charles (Wels) sticker is picture of Alfredo Di Stefano.

Italian Lampo published great album in 1962 “Calcio Mondiale“. Each country has at least 11 stickers.

In 1966 we have several albums like Italian edition, German, English...

There were also some other albums but I tried you to bring closer the period before Panini with some of them. 

WORLD CUP PANINI STICKER ALBUMS:

MEXICO 1970

-England and Italian cover 

First Panini album was published for the FIFA World Cup 1970. With this album Panini moved into the international market for the first time. For this album stickers weren't self adhesive. You had to stick them with glue. To be correct this album also have several self-adhesive stickers. This is most rarest and expensive Panini album. Price on ebay is about 2500 to 5000 euro. Or even more. Everything related to this album is really expensive. Panini produced at least three versions of album: Italian, English and international. International version was intended for West Germany, Spain and France. International and England versions have almost the same cover while Italian have different. On 50 pages we have 288 stickers/cards in total. First page of album is dedecated to 1970 World Cup where we have stickers of trophy, FIFA logo, mascotte... On next pages of album we have former WCs from 1930 to 1966. There we have poster of World Cup, winning squad and three important players for each of those WCs. Participated teams of 1970 WC are presented with flag, emblem of football federation, team sticker and at least 11 player stickers per team (stronger teams have 14 player stickers). This album is usualy known as "holy grail".    

This album is really rare and since technology have improved you can see lot of fake stickers which are nearly same as original ones. So when are you looking for album or stickers you have to be really careful. Ebay is full of fake/reprinted stickers and you have to take care a lot before you buy anything. 

-example of history page and Salvador (source: Panini nations blog)

MUNCHEN 1974

Second Panini World Cup album is “Munchen 74“. After great success with previous album this was first Panini album released worldwide. This album also made great success and Panini become popular all around the world. It has 400 self adhesive stickers and this is first Panini album translated to six languages. Except Italian it also has English, German, French, Dutch and Yugoslavian editions. As in previous WC album we also have introdution and history pages with trophies of old Rimet Cup and new FIFA trophy made of eight stickers. Novelty in this album are stadium stickers. Each team has emblem, mascot and team sticker but not all teams have same number of player stickers. Some of then don't even have 11 players as for example Australia, Zaire and Haiti have only 6. Host nation W. Germany, last winner Brazil and Panini home nation Italy also have president and coach stickers.  Those three teams are presented with 20 player stickers. All other teams have 14. At the end of the album we have ten stronger teams which didn't participated at WC 1974. All of them have emblem sticker and four famous national team players. There we have England, Spain, France, Portugal, etc.

In this album Panini have made mistake with at least two stickers. Those two stickers are from Austria (team that didn't qualified). On Kurt Jara sticker there is August Starek. As prove you have team photo of Austria from 1973. We also have stickers which says August Starek. Since Starek is on Kurt Jara sticker than that sticker is also a mistake. Which player is on that sticker? I did research and my opinion is that player is Johann Ettmayer but I am not 100% shure.

-this is August Starek (see team photo)

-not August Starek, maybe Johann Ettmayer

ARGENTINA 1978 

Panini World Cup album 1978 is almost the same as previous one. Same number of stickers as in 1974 (400). First pages are dedecated to the history of previous WCs. With stadium stickers now we also have cities. Each participating nation has 18 stickers (emblem, team and rest are players). That is main difference between previous album. For me it's much better when all teams are presented on the same way (same number of stickers). Last pages are dedecated to 14 teams that haven't qualified for the World Cup. Each of those teams have emblem and 4 players. This is last album where are included non qualifaying teams.    

ESPANA 1982

1982 World Cup was held in Spain. Panini album was named “Espana 82“ and have 427 stickers. This is kind of revolutionary Panini album because the biggest inovation in this album are shiny stickers.  Shiny stickers includes all emblems plus trophy, mascot, official logo... First page contains trophy sticker, mascot, logo and poster. Next four pages are dedecated to all host cities (poster stickers) and stadiums. This album don't have history stickers. All participating nations are included in album. All teams have emblem and team stickers. Smaller teams (Cameroon, Algeria, Salvador, Kuwait and New Zeland) have two players on one sticker. 8 stickers with two players on each. All other teams have 16 player stickers. This Panini album, like previous two, next to every team have two great sections. First one is called “How they qualified“ with all matches during qualifications and final table and second is called: “From Argentina to Spain“ (from previous World Cup to this WC) with list of all matches which national team played during those years. See pictures.

MEXICO 1986

Second World Cup held in Mexico. After “Mexico 70“ now we have “Mexico 86“. Album contains 427 stickers. This album don't have novelties. Like in most Panini albums on first page we can see logos of WC and mascot. Next stickers in album are historical with all posters of previous World Cups. In album are included all host cities and stadium stickers. Teams are presented on a same way as in 1982. Most of the teams have shiny emblem sticker, team sticker and 16 player stickers. Some smaller teams have two players on one sticker. So they have 8 stickers which are showing players. Those teams are South Korea, Iraq, Canada, Algeria and Morocco. I have to mention that not all versions have shiny badge stickers. I have to say that Yugoslavian edition have some missprinted stickers made by “Decje Novine“ (official Panini distributer in former Yugoslavia). Error in printing is that some player names are written in the middle of the sticker and not on the bottom. All Spain stickers are missprinted. Also some of the Bulgarian, Uruguay and Poland stickers have the same error. See picture.

ITALIA 1990

1990 World Cup was held in Italy, home nation of Panini. West Germany won their 3rd title. Panini album have 448 stickers. As in previous album we have intro section where are included trophy and logos stickers. Official mascot of WC “Ciao“ have 10 stickers in different playing positions. Stadiums and cities are also included. Participating teams have one more player sticker then in previous two albums. Shiny emblem (not all versions), team sticker plus 17 players. Smaller teams have same number of stickers as in previous two albums. Those teams are Cameroon, Costa Rica, UAE, South Korea and Egypt. This World Cup was marked by Salvatore Schillaci who was top scorer and best player. But there wasn't his sticker in the album. The reason is that he made his debut in March 1990, few months before the start of the tournament. 

WORLD CUP STORY

In 1993 (or early 1994) Panini published album named “World Cup Story“. This album was published about 5 months before WC 1994 Panini album. It was published in Europe (in only few countries) and South America. They have different covers (see picture above). As you can conclude this album is about history of previous WCs. First two stickers are trophies, old Rimet Cup and todays FIFA World Cup. Tournaments from 1930 to 1966 have poster stickers and team sticker of each winner. From 1970 (year when Panini published first album) we have poster sticker plus emblem from WC winners: Brazil, West Germany, Argentina and Italy. In total album have 228 stickers. In other part of album Panini included all player stickers from WC finalists from 1970 to 1990. For example in 1970 WC final Brazil beat Italy. Panini made reprints of their stickers from 1970 album. But in this album Panini made updates of players which were in original album but didn't played on the tournament. As you know Panini made their albums few months before WC so we have some players who don't play on the tournament. Some of the team stickers where also different. Panini probobly used pictures from WC final matches. In 1997 Panini published another “World Cup Story“ album. This one was published in Colombia. Album is same like previous one but this one have finalists from 1994. The main difference of original and WC Story sticker is back of the sticker. But some pictures are also slightly different. See Maradona.

-Colombian edition with Romario on the cover

-example of West Germany from one of the WC Story albums

-example of Maradona from both albums and backs of both stickers 

USA 1994

Host nation of 1994 World Cup was USA, country where football isn't the main sport. However this is one of the best World Cups ever. This was the most financially successful WC in the tournament's history. Average attendance of this WC was nearly 69 000 spectators, a record that stands today. This was also the first World Cup final that was decided on penalities. Panini album dedecated to this WC have 444 stickers. This album like “Italia 1990“ have many different editions over the world and some have different number of stickers. For example German and Holland editions have Spain players in their club jerseys. This album don't have history pages or FIFA logo, mascot... Album starts with city and stadium stickers. Most of the teams are presented with federation logo, team sticker and 17 players. Again we have some teams which have two players on one sticker. Those teams are: Bolivia, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia and those teams have 8 stickers which are showing players. This World Cup is also famous for Andres Escobar own goal which lead to elimination of Colombia. You don't have his sticker in international version, only in Colombian version.

FRANCE 1998

1998 World Cup was played in France. France also won its first title beating last champion Brazil. This World Cup also saw great success for debutant Croatia who won 3rd place. Panini produced album with 561 stickers and this is most controversial sticker album. Why? Because of Iran stickers. Album starts with intro stickers: trophy, official logo and mascot. Then we have two pages with 10 stickers of stadiums. First team in album is last winner Brazil and it has emblem and team stickers plus 16 players. Almost all team are presented like Brazil except USA, Iran and Jamaica. Those three teams have 8 player stickers like previous albums. Now we comes to Iran. Iran football federation didn't gave the licence to Panini. Actually other sticker company “DS“ dealed the Iran team rights before Panini. Funny DS also comes from Modena. Panini never printed Iran stickers in regular printing with other stickers. You couldn't find them in the packs. This lead to lot of uncomplete albums. You collected all other stickers but Iran page was empty. Later Panini issued a separated sheet (with yellow shirts) that could be ordered in UK. On that sheet is written: "Manufactured in the UK for distribution only in the UK". According to informations, if you asked Panini UK they also send it to Holland and Spain (maybe also some other countries). Other sheet (with red shirts) was issued with italian magazine Guerin Sportivo but this sheet didn't have self adhesive stickers. You had to use your own glue to put them in album. Back then, if you asked Panini about Iran stickers they sent you a letter where was written this: „Please be informed that the IRAN TEAM stickers (from n°417 to n°426) are not available because they have not been printed.“ Today on ebay you can see lot of fake Iran sheets which are selled as original. Original sheet is worth about 50-90€.   

-Iran sheets with yellow and red shirts


-Iran stickers from "DS" World Cup album

KOREA-JAPAN 2002

2002 FIFA World Cup was the first World Cup held in Asia and first hosted from more then one nation. This World Cup saw two big surprises as Turkey won 3rd place and South Korea finished 4th. Panini produced album with 576 stickers. Album was presented on same way as previous one. We have intro part then stadiums and all the countries that participated in the competition. Each team have shiny emblem, team and 16 player stickers. Three teams have less stickers then other teams. Same like previous album. Those teams are Ecuador, Russia and Tunis. It's a bit a surprise for me to see Russia with two players on one sticker because they had several good players at that time. Spain players are presented in their club jerseys. It was a licence problem with Spain football federation. They also have stupid team stickers with heads of 11 players. Same team stickers have also some other teams like Ireland and England. In this album happened almost same thing like Iran stickers in previous album. This time was with Ireland stickers. Luckily this time Panini got licence on time so there was packs with Irish stickers. But those stickers where rarest then others. Today set of Irish stickers if worth about 40€. And you won't see fake stickers like they do with Iran from 1998. Brazilian version of album is different in five Brazilian player stickers plus all Brazilian footballers have different jersey. Those players are: Ronaldinho, Belletti, Edmilson, Juan and Marcos. In Mexico was published update sheet with 6 Mexican and 6 Italian players. It was published only in Mexico and it was offered with mexican magazine.
Israel album is different because everything is written on hebrew and it has extra pages and stickers with Israel international players, U21 team... 

GERMANY 2006

FIFA World Cup 2006 was held in Germany. Italy won their 4th title after win against France on PKs. Panini album have 597 stickers. First sticker in this album is Panini stamp and it is numbered as 0. This sticker is rare and it cost 5€. This album is separated in three parts: introduction stickers, stadiums and the stickers of all participating teams. Like in other albums we have trophy, mascot, logo and poster. One page is dedecated to 12 stadium stickers. 29 teams have shiny emblem, team sticker and 17 players. 3 teams (Angola, Ghana and Saudi Arabia) have emblem, team and 8 stickers with two players on each.

This album was very important for Panini because of bad reputation with last two albums. This album returned lot of collectors into hobby again. For some this album have the best stickers since "Italy 1990“. Album is full of legendary players and it is the end of an era. This is also the first album which have official update stickers which were available everywhere. In update were included 7 stickers. See picture. Sticker of Edgar Barreto was already in the album but that was not his picture so Panini updated it. 

SOUTH AFRICA 2010

2010 World Cup was played in South Africa, first on the African continent. On that WC we could see first title for Spain while Netherlands lost their third final. WC is also famous for vuvuzelas. Panini album contains 640 but there are lot of variations of this album with Coca-Cola stickers, promo stickers etc. Album starts with two special stickers numbered 00 and 000. Those stickers are “FIFA Fair Play“ and Panini stamp. Next are intro stickers like trophy, logo, ball... There are 10 stadiums with two stickers for each which is difference between other albums. After stadiums we again have some intro stickers: official slogan, poster and mascot. This is first Panini World Cup album after “Argentina 1978“ with same number of stickers for all teams. First team in album is host nation and it has shiny logo sticker, team and 17 individual player stickers. The same valid for others. Next to every team is a table which shows how they qualified for the World Cup. The album ends with another trophy sticker. Update set contains 77 stickers.

BRASIL 2014

This was second time that Brazil was host nation, first one in 1950. Like in 1950 they expected a lot but they ended up with a big semi-final lose from Germany. First WC final for Messi but Argentina lost from Germany. Panini published album with 640 stickers and this is the best selling Panini album in history. Panini issued tons of extra stickers, same like in previous album. There is also a hard cover version of the album. Album is separated in three parts just like previous one. First part is introduction with Panini logo (numbered 00), FIFA Fair Play, official emblem, mascot, trophy and ball. 24 stickers are showing 12 stadiums. 2 stickers form one stadium picture. All 32 teams have 19 stickers: logo, team and other are players. Update set contains 71 sticker but in those update they made one mistake with Eder Balanta sticker so Panini made update of updated sticker. Funny. Besides this international update set of stickers there are few other updates issued separately. France, Portugal, Spain and Belgium have those updates or let's better say they printed stickers of other players that were part of the team like second and third keeper and some other players. There was no place for those stickers. Mexico update have three extra stickers. 

-left Edwin Valencia and right correct Balanta sticker

-example of other France stickers 

WORLD CUP BOOK 1970-2014

In 2015 Panini published a book with reprints of all World Cup albums (1970 – 2014). There was also a first edition with WC albums till 2010. Book have almost 800 pages. It's a great book especially for young collectors who never had a chance to collect old Panini WC albums. It's also great for all fans who follow football. Each Panini album is not just a practical guide to the various rounds of the tournament, but it also provides a valuable visual archive of all the teams and their memorable matches. The book tells the story of the World Cup through the faces of its stars.

-Lima, Peru

Panini World Cup albums are the most collected albums all around the world. It's most important album in collecting stickers. This is just a small part of informations. It's impossible to know all details about every album because there are lot of editions and lot of unknown informations. Filling a Panini album has become progressively more expensive since the 1970s. Not just because there are more teams competing now, but because Panini have become more creative about allocating spaces. And todays sticker have more details then from 70s or 80s.
Today people swap all over the world. Swapping stickers bring lot of joy to the kids. But not only to the kids also to adults who fall in love with stickers. Stickers return you to the childhood, into that feeling of carefree and pure happiness when you open packs, stick stickers and completing your album. Lot of people will agree that todays football is mostly about money but despite that people will always collect stickers. It is a “infection“ that stays forever. Before every big tournament starts Paninimania for collecting, swapping and selling stickers. Today collectors arrange meetings in every big city for swapping Panini stickers. Kids also swap in school but not as before. In today's time they finds joy in some other things. Let's be honest, nowadays adults are more collecting than kids.

I will end this with Umberto Panini words: „All that I have achieved, I did it with fun. I didn't think of it as something that tires me.“

Don't ever give up on something you love and enjoy collecting your Panini sticker albums.