Panini has been the face of World Cup sticker albums since 1970. That ends in 2031. FIFA has handed the collectibles contract to Topps, backed by Fanatics, and a partnership that defined childhoods across six decades is officially finished.
The Italian company's grip on tournament memorabilia — stickers, trading cards, card games — stretched longer than most international football careers. Since the Mexico World Cup, when the first official album hit shelves, Panini was simply the name you associated with the ritual of buying packets and hunting for that one missing sticker.
What Topps is actually bringing
The deal isn't just a rebrand. FIFA and Fanatics are pitching genuine product changes, with the headline feature being a jersey patch programme — actual fabric from player shirts inserted into trading cards from 2031. If that sounds familiar, it's because Topps already runs versions of this in baseball and basketball. The model works. It drives secondary market value and turns casual collectors into obsessive ones.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino framed it as Fanatics "driving massive innovation" — though the more telling detail is that this is exactly the kind of premium, high-margin product Panini never moved aggressively into.
For anyone who tracks the collectibles market, this is less of a surprise than it might look. Fanatics has been buying its way into sports licensing at scale, and FIFA was always going to be a target. The World Cup is the single biggest sporting event on the planet. The licensing revenue attached to it is extraordinary.
Italy's World Cup problems keep stacking up
There's an uncomfortable irony here for Italy. The Azzurri have now missed back-to-back World Cups on the pitch. And off it, one of Italy's most iconic companies — headquartered in Modena — has just lost the contract it held since the tournament Italy won in 1982. It's the kind of coincidence that writes its own headline.
Panini hasn't commented publicly yet. They still hold rights through the 2030 tournament, so there's no immediate cliff edge. But 2031 is coming fast, and after 60-plus years, there's no soft landing for a loss this significant.
