The passion for the World Cup unleashes every four years a deep-rooted tradition: that of completing the sticker album. This football fervor turns shopping malls, parks and squares in Colombia into authentic exchange markets, where fans of all ages negotiate to get the precious stickers.
A meeting point for collectors
In the Gran Estación shopping mall in Bogotá, the Panini store becomes the epicenter of this collector’s fever. Dozens of people, with lists in hand, whether on paper or in digital formats, gather to exchange stickers and advance in their collections. The key question among collectors is always the same: “Do you have stickers to trade?”. From there, a frenetic exchange unfolds. Children, young people, adults, and seniors display their duplicate trading cards, desperately seeking that elusive sticker they are missing.Diego Casas, a passionate collector, is experiencing his third World Cup filling the album on his own, after doing it with his family. Although some opt to buy complete boxes to speed up the process, Casas prefers the excitement of exchanging, visiting meeting points and negotiating the missing stickers. Casas highlights the importance of this dynamic to keep alive a tradition that must endure. However, he acknowledges that this edition has presented an additional challenge due to the new numbering system of the players, which has complicated the task for many collectors.For me it’s very important because it’s like having the memory of the World Cup, of the players who were there.
Diego Casas, collector
