Less than 100 days left until Euro 2024. That means a month-long football festival in which 24 national teams from across the continent battle it out for the honor of being crowned European champions.
But there's more to it than just watching the action on the field: fans have spent generations collecting it, too. Hand in hand with every major international tournament comes an official sticker album, with the race on for people of all ages to fill their book with each player, elusive shinies and other special items. “I got it, I got it… I need it!”
Whether it's for the kids to enjoy or for the nostalgia factor to get you hooked as an adult with disposable income, it's fun for the whole family.
It's also big business. In 2018, Panini almost doubled its annual revenue to €1 billion thanks to the popularity of that year's World Cup sticker album. But the renowned Italian sticker giants are not doing the Euro 2024 book, having seen collectible rivals Topps extend their own partnership with UEFA.
Panini has long had a licensing agreement with FIFA for the men's and women's World Cup tournaments, as well as domestic competitions such as the Premier League and WSL, but in 2022 it was announced that Topps would be UEFA's new exclusive partner. for the European Championship until 2028.
This means that Topps will produce collections for Euro 2024 and Euro 2028, in addition to Women's Euro 2025 and any Nations League-related collections. In addition to trading cards, the agreement covers all collectible and collectible cards, and the Euro 2024 Match Attax has already been launched.
Panini had previously made all Euro card collections since the 1980 tournament, with the Women's Euro 2022 being its last UEFA-affiliated card book until at least 2029.
Topps has signed José Mourinho as the official ambassador of the Euro 2024 collection, and one of his duties as part of the deal is to select the players who will appear on the album.
The wait is over, friends!
You can now pre-order several boxes and packs of the Topps Euro 2024 trading card collection, which will ship on Thursday, March 28. UK deliveries are expected to arrive within three to five working days, while international orders may take up to 28 days to be delivered.
There are currently seven items available on the official Topps website, ranging from a £6.99 Multipack to a £180 Full Box Bundle containing 200 packs.
Euro 2024 cards can be widely purchased in physical stores and online.
The official Topps website will be a good place to start, especially for bulk ordering a box of 100 packs to get started straight away, but high street retailers such as WHSmith and Smyths Toys Superstores and major supermarkets such as Tesco , Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are big sellers too.
Independent retailers such as local newsagents may have stock, while eBay is always worth a look for listings for unopened packs, bulk purchases and specific stickers. Online toy stores Booghe and Earthlets have recently become a good place to buy football cards.
As a guide, Panini has sold individual packages of five cards for 90 cents in recent tournaments. But some indications are that Topps could set the price per pack at 99 cents.
The multipacks and eco packs cost 6.99 euros, the hardcover sticker album 11.99 euros, the sticker tins 9.99 euros, while a complete box will cost you 90 euros.
Don't pay more than necessary.
It's an easy hit for the news media to sensationalize the cost of completing one of these sticker books, often turning to mathematicians or statisticians to calculate an overall cost. In 2018, headlines screamed with an estimate of €773 to complete the World Cup album, while in 2022 it was €883 as the cost of a single package increased by 10 cents in the intervening years.
And although it's still not exactly “cheap”, the truth is that it only costs a fraction of that amount. Those huge numbers are based on buying packs and packs until you find the last one. That's one way to do it, but the much more profitable option is to buy enough cards to fill a book and then trade them until you reach the end.
The exchange is king and should keep costs around the £150 mark if you keep track of it. Even if you don't know anyone who is writing the Euro 2024 book, don't be discouraged, because on Facebook there are always exchange groups that bring hundreds of like-minded people with the same goal into contact. Also look out for swap events in your area: for example, the National Football Museum has hosted swap shops in previous summers, while Jill Scott's Boxx 2 Boxx has held events for WSL collectors.
Buying individual cards on eBay, where sellers can charge around €1 each but often offer “Buy 2, get 8 free” deals, is also a way to cover your needs when buying packs alone is no longer possible. proves fruitful and produces too many duplicates.
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