World Cup brings 500 Panini sticker collectors together at HomeTeamNS Khatib

SINGAPORE – Sporting a Germany football kit, Nanyang Polytechnic student Lucas Leo scuttled from table to table approaching everyone he could.

The goal? Find the missing stickers of football players that he needed to complete this year’s Panini World Cup sticker album.

In his hand, the 19-year-old held his laptop – with a spreadsheet of his missing stickers open – and a stack of extra copies of stickers to swop for the missing stickers he needed.

When the second-year aerospace engineering student was unable to find the stickers he needed, he turned to the event’s emcee, who made a booming announcement over the microphone, asking the event’s other attendees if they had spare copies of the stickers that Leo needed.

Leo was not alone in his goal. Armed with iPads, laptops and handwritten notes of stickers they were missing, 500 collectors – from primary school pupils to retirees – gathered at HomeTeamNS Khatib on July 12 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Panini Adrenalyn XL Card & Sticker Collection Grand Draw – all in the hopes of completing their collections.

The event, which lasted about six hours, also included interactive audience question-and-answer segments and a lucky draw.

It was organised by Walter Agency Singapore, the official distributor of Panini products in Singapore and supported by Toys“R”Us Singapore and HomeTeamNS.

For Leo, completing the Panini World Cup sticker collection – which has been released by the Italian company every tournament since 1970 – is not just a hobby, but an inherited duty. 

Leo’s father has completed the sticker collections of every Euro and World Cup competition since the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Since 2014’s tournament in Brazil, it has been Leo’s turn to spearhead his family’s efforts to complete the albums.

Leo, an avid fan of the German national team and Bayern Munich, said: “It’s something that my dad and I (have) in common. Because we’ve done it together for so many years, I’d feel guilty if I don’t manage to complete it.”

Collectors ST spoke to estimated that they had spent $250 to $400 to complete this year’s collection of 980 unique stickers. Each album retails for $6.99, while each pack of stickers – which contains seven random stickers – costs $2.30.

For most collectors, trading is the preferred method to complete their collections, especially among those on the verge of completing their albums.

“I always end up with extras and no one really wants them when the World Cup is over,” Leo said. “It’s better to use them to trade or give them away for free at events like this.”

The social aspect of the hobby was also a boon for many collectors.

National University of Singapore undergraduate Tommy Lee, 24, who first attended a Swapsies event for the 2018 World Cup, said: “It’s a fun way for me to step out of my comfort zone.

“I remember that during my first Swapsies event, I was super shy and dragged a friend who didn’t collect to come along with me,” the fourth-year dentistry student recalled. “But it was so much fun trying to complete my album that I knew I had to come back. The satisfaction of managing to complete it is phenomenal.”

Besides physical events, collectors also trade and swop stickers over platforms such as Carousell and Facebook.

The Singapore Panini Swapsies Group, a Facebook interest group for Panini Sticker trading, has grown from 15 members in 2010 to 1,500 members today.

Navin Nambiar, 45, the founder of the group who also served as the event’s master of ceremonies, said that the community was about more than just collecting stickers: “It is about bringing people together across different generations, fostering friendships and creating a community built on generosity, where helping someone else complete their album is just as rewarding as completing your own.”

Nambiar added that he had noticed “more young collectors joining the community over the last few FIFA World Cups”.

He added: “Collecting offers something quite different from spending time on a screen. Instead of interacting online, young collectors meet face to face, learn how to communicate with strangers, negotiate trades, build friendships and experience the satisfaction of completing an album through patience and teamwork.

For Republic Polytechnic student Zelthan Goh, 19, who began collecting stickers during the 2018 World Cup, recalled that he was able to complete an album for the first time after another collector gave him the last sticker he needed for free at a swopping event, during the last World Cup in 2022.

“Each sticker only sells for like $0.30 anyway. By swopping or giving them away, you’re able to help someone else achieve a common goal,” Goh, a Manchester City and Hougang United fan, said.

A family affair

Some came with families, including those with multiple generations of collectors.

Lawyer Jon Bett, 46, who attended the event with his nine-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, said: “Growing up in England, I did this as a kid so from my perspective, it’s nice to be able to pass this down and do something that we enjoy together.

“The World Cup does something special in bringing people together and this is part of it.”

Retiree Dolly Goh, 78, was there to help her 10-year-old grandson Gyan Phua, a first-time sticker collector, complete his album.

“I’m a football fan, but it’s my first time attending something like this,” Goh, who has followed Liverpool since the 1970s, said. “I’m just here to help my grandson (arrange his album), but I’m enjoying the atmosphere.”

Academic researcher Max Lopez, who moved from Mexico to Singapore in 2019, said that the event reminded him of events he attended as a child in Mexico.

“In Latin America, (Panini sticker-collecting) is a much bigger thing. There’s even allotted time in some Mexican schools for children to trade stickers,” the 26-year-old said.

“I’m very happy to see here in Singapore that there are so many people interested in trading.”