FUTBOL FEVER: 2026 World Cup fuels new rise in popularity of soccer cards, collectibles
With the FIFA World Cup less than a year away, interest in soccer cards and collectibles has reached new heights. Every four years, the global excitement surrounding the tournament fuels a surge in demand for memorabilia, and this cycle has proven no different.
Collectors—both seasoned enthusiasts and newcomers—are eagerly snapping up trading cards, decades-old sticker albums, autographed jerseys and limited-edition releases featuring top players and rising stars. Many gathered at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Chicago in July to buy, sell and trade.
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Soccer collectors even held their own three-day show—an event known as the SoCo Expo at the same time as The National just a few miles away—dedicated solely to the world’s most popular sport. The high-energy show, now in just its second year, was held on four indoor soccer fields and featured over 100 dealers and a soccer tournament.
“I skipped The National just to come here,” admitted Joseph Ibsen, a soccer card collector since 2018. “There’s very little soccer [at The National] and I’d rather spend my time where I know where there are more soccer dealers.”
The growing intersection between collecting and investing has contributed massively to this boom. Soccer cards have in large part replaced stickers, which were all the rage around the world for decades. Collectors expect the market to continue its upward momentum ahead of the World Cup, which will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico June 11-July 19, 2026.
As a result, new opportunities to collect have emerged. While Topps and Panini have the license to make soccer card sets, that hasn’t stopped others from getting in on the craze. Upper Deck recently included cards of Spain and Barcelona star Lamine Yamal in their 2025 Goodwin Champions set.
“The surge of the popularity of soccer in the U.S. is long predicted. Obviously, it’s finally coming to fruition,” said Michael Phillips, who serves as Upper Deck’s vice president of sales. “We’re not known as a soccer company, but for brands like Goodwin and other multi-sport products our team will look for opportunities to feature some soccer players.”
Yamal cards have become very collectable, driving a market that already features interest in legends like Pele, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Kylian Mbappe.
SOCCER JERSEY SALES
In addition to cards, collectors have also seen a resurgence in soccer jerseys. Starting this past May, MatchWornShirt announced an exclusive partnership with U.S. Soccer, naming the memorabilia company their official game-worn auction platform. The partnership marked MatchWornShirt’s U.S. launch and will allow collectors a chance to bid on game-worn jerseys from U.S. men’s and women’s stars such as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams, Rose Lavelle and Trinity Rodman.
“The energy around sports memorabilia in the U.S. has never been higher and soccer in America is entering a golden era,” said Lilian Bours, chief marketing officer of MatchWornShirt. “We’re thrilled to give American soccer fans unprecedented access to their national teams, deepening the emotional connection to their favorite players and celebrating the game’s most iconic moments. We turn matchdays into memories—in wearable and collectible form.”
MatchWornShirt, based in the Netherlands, has agreements with some 300 teams in 35 countries, including Real Madrid and Manchester City. It allows fans to bid in real time as the action unfolds during games.
At the same time, Rob Lough is developing an app called Showboat that will allow collectors from around the world to post photos of their jerseys and help bring this growing community together.
“I started to compile all my shirts and realized that I had no idea what value these all had or no real recollection on what I had in my collection and where they were,” Lough said. “I started speaking to other collectors I knew and this seemed to be a similar problem across the board. Some collectors used Notion, some used Google Sheets, some used Instagram, some didn't use anything at all. There was no dedicated space for it, and no single source of truth to compile, shortlist and value them.”
Lough said his app exists to “give collectors the space, tools, and authority they’ve never had, so their passion—and their investment—is properly recognized and preserved.”
Although Lough lives in the United Kingdom, he anticipates that many of his users will be based in the United States. Lough said his timing, just ahead of the World Cup, will only help fuel interest in his app.
“From a memorabilia perspective, the U.S. is where the collectible market has become truly sophisticated,” he said. “It’s where passion meets capitalism, where niche collecting evolves into something with global influence. The football shirt market desperately needs that level of sophistication, pricing transparency, authentication and a proper index, this is something Showboat is on a mission to solve.”
Clemente Lisi