The magic of 800 stickers is making a comeback

There are 589 numbered stickers, plus 100 ‘Upgrade’ stickers, 60 ‘Celebration’ stickers and other bonus stickers, making a total of almost 800 stickers chronicling the 2026/27 season. This is the ‘Calciatori Panini’ collection, now in its 66th edition and available at newsagents from 20 October. This is perhaps the main novelty this year for an album which, two-thirds of a century after its inception, continues to exert a profound and, to some extent, inexplicable fascination in the midst of the post-digital era.

In fact, a year ago, Panini had already decided to bring forward the release date to 18 November, rather than the traditional mid-December – which for years had marked this much-anticipated moment – and to bring it closer to the start of the league season. This year sees another significant leap forward in the calendar: by 20 October, only the first seven matchdays of Serie A will have been played. A record, almost an ‘instant album’. It may seem like a purely commercial detail, but it isn’t. It’s a move designed to bring the legendary collection closer to the very heart of the fans, when the season is still wide open and every supporter can hope for a spectacular result from their team. And to project (also) the fulfilment of their expectations onto the stickers. The decision is also consistent with Panini’s aim to be a key player ‘on’ the pitch, ‘during’ the matches, and not just to follow them ‘from the sidelines’.

It is in this context that a project such as “Player of the Match” should be understood – the trophy awarded to the best player in each match, which, as it happens, stands out like the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey at the centre of this year’s album cover, surrounded by the top players from all the teams, and which is also featured with special stickers inside the collection.

Editorially speaking, however, the main new features are simply the ‘Time Capsule’ and ‘New Wave’ sections. ‘Time Capsule’ is a genuine journey through time. Twenty stickers dedicated to twenty legends of the past, ranging from the most universally celebrated, such as Baresi, Maradona and Zidane, to the star outsiders who drove fans wild, such as Barbas, Francescoli and ‘Chino’ Recoba. Set within a frame reminiscent of a real time capsule, the original stickers of these great champions are reproduced, taken directly from the original album.

The past, then, but also the future, with the New Wave section. For quite some time now, sticker collecting has found in so-called ‘rookie’ stickers one of the items that really get enthusiasts’ pulses racing (and drive up prices). Today, a rookie sticker of a great champion from the past – that is, their very first appearance on a sticker – can be worth as much as thousands of euros. Well, “Calciatori” formalises this trend, featuring twenty promising young players making their ‘debut’ on a sticker in the New Wave section. A veritable debutants’ ball, ranging from Comotto to Trepy, from Kulla to Konate, and representing the pool from which to seek out the champions of the future.

The more ‘traditional’ section of the album is very neat and well-organised: the section dedicated to the twenty Serie A teams, elegantly laid out over two pages per team, opening with the league badge and closing with the manager. In between are the twenty half-length stickers of the key players, showing their position and key statistics. The Serie B section is somewhat more (perhaps excessively) condensed; since it has had its own album (this year’s edition is due out in December), it has lost space in the main album and is represented this year by just three stickers per team: the league badge, the shirt and the captain. Such is the market. And there is little that can be done about it. Except carry on collecting.