August 24 marked the beginning of the race of thousands of fans to be part of a tradition with 52 years of history: the filling of the Panini Sticker Album of the FIFA World Cup. It can be said that the first game for fans has already begun.
Since the aforementioned day, the Album is already on sale in the United States in its tangible version, so the challenge of collecting each of the 670 stickers that make up the Qatar 2022 edition will begin. A challenge that demands time, patience and money.
Of the total number of stickers, 576 are destined for the players of each of the 32 National Teams that have qualified for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Although the Panini Sticker Album is usually a certain reference of the teams’ squads, there is always room for improvement.
The number of players called up to Qatar 2022 and those appearing in the Panini Sticker Album
For the upcoming World Cup, FIFA approved that each of the 32 National Teams that will compete in it will have a squad of 26 players. This represents a new stage in the history of this tournament, since since 1930 and until France 1998, only 22 players were allowed to be called up.
Then came Korea-Japan 2002, which marked a turning point in the World Cup in two respects: it was the first edition organized by two countries, but also the first time that the squads of the National Teams playing in the tournament were made up of 23 players.
Thus, in real life, Qatar 2022 will be the World Cup in which managers will have the most players at their disposal. However, in the universe of the Panini Sticker Albums this is not the case, as only 19 images per National Team were included: 1 shield and 18 players.
Excluded from the Qatar 2022 Panini Sticker Album with the possibility of playing the World Cup
As it was launched several months before the official rosters of the upcoming FIFA World Cup are confirmed and due to design and editorial space issues, there are several players who were not included in the Panini Sticker Album of Qatar 2022 but who have a great chance of playing in the tournament.
It should be noted that the list below was drawn up taking into account factors such as having been part of recent official or friendly tournaments and the current form of the players considered as potential call-ups to the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
Netherlands
Nathan Ake – Manchester City (defender)
Denzel Dumfries – Inter Milan (midfielder)
Wout Weghorst – Besiktas (forward)
Nathan Ake, Netherlands. (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
England
Reece James – Chelsea (defender)
Emile Smith Rowe – Arsenal (midfielder)
Jadon Sancho – Manchester United (forward)
Emile Smith Rowe, England. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
USMNT
Ethan Horvath – Luton Town (goalkeeper)
Yunus Musah – Valencia (midfielder)
Josh Sargent – Norwich City (forward)
Yunus Musah, USMNT. (Dave Jimenez, Getty Images)
Argentina
Geronimo Rulli – Villarreal CF (goalkeeper)
Lisandro Martinez – Manchester United (defender)
Alejandro Gomez – Sevilla (midfielder)
Alejandro Gomez, Argentina. (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Mexico
Johan Vasquez – Cremonese (defender)
Orbelín Pineda – AEK Athens (midfielder)
Santiago Gimenez – Feyenoord (forward)
Orbelín Pineda, Mexico. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
France
Eduardo Camavinga – Real Madrid (midfielder)
Ousmané Dembele – Barcelona (forward)
Olivier Giroud – Milan (forward)
Ousmane Dembele, France. (Matt King/Getty Images)
Spain
Daniel Carvajal – Real Madrid (defender)
Thiago Alcantara – Liverpool (midfielder)
Marco Asensio – Real Madrid (forward)
Thiago Alcantara, Spain. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Germany
Kevin Trapp – Eintracht Frankfurt (goalkeeper)
Jamal Musiala – Bayern Munich (midfielder)
Julian Draxler – Paris Saint Germain (forward)
Jamal Musiala, Bayern Munich. (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Japan
Takefusa Kubo – Real Sociedad (forward)
Takefusa Kubo, Japan. (Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)
Belgium
Leander Dendoncker – Wolverhampton (midfielder)
Michy Batshuayi – Chelsea (foward)
Divock Origi – Milan (forward)
Divock Origi, Belgium. (Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Canada
Lucas Cavallini – Vancouver Whitecaps (forward)
Lucas Cavallini, Canada. (Guillermo Legaria/Getty Images)
Brazil
Dani Alves – Pumas (defender)
Fred – Manchester United (midfielder)
Rodrygo – Real Madrid (forward)
Rodrygo, Brazil. (Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
Portugal
Nuno Mendes – Paris Saint Germain (defender)
Vitinha – Paris Saint Germain (midfielder)
Rafael Leao – Milan (forward)
Rafael Leao, Portugal. (Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
Uruguay
Sebastian Coates – Sporting Lisboa (defender)
Nicolas de la Cruz – River Plate (midfielder)
Diego Rossi – Fenerbahce (forward)
Nicolás de la Cruz, Uruguay. (Marcelo Endelli/Getty Images)
