Football card collecting is about to look a lot more like the NBA and NFL. Fanatics has secured an exclusive, long-term collectibles agreement with FIFA covering trading cards, stickers, and trading card games — effective from 2031, under the Topps brand.
The deal spans both physical and digital formats, and it introduces something the sport has never had before: jersey patch cards. Rookie Debut Patches — a format anyone who's opened a Topps Chrome basketball or football product will recognise immediately — are coming to international football. Given that the game consistently produces elite players in their mid-to-late teens, the 2034 World Cup cycle is going to generate some genuinely sought-after cardboard.
Five years away, but the groundwork starts now
The timing is deliberate. With the 2026 World Cup kicking off in under a month, Fanatics is using the tournament as a launchpad. Fanatics Fest NYC runs July 16–19 at the Javits Center, and on July 17 — two days before the World Cup Final — the event hosts official pre-match press conferences with both finalists' coaches and players in attendance. The Javits Center then becomes a watch party venue for the Final itself.
That's a smart way to plant a flag before you even have product on shelves.
Beyond the collector market, the partnership includes distributing more than $150 million in free collectibles to youth football programmes worldwide over the lifetime of the deal. That's grassroots reach at a scale that turns a licensing agreement into something with genuine sporting infrastructure attached.
What this means for the hobby — and the market
Panini has held FIFA's trading card rights for years, and the 2026 World Cup will still be their show. But 2031 is when the landscape shifts. Topps — now firmly a Fanatics property — built its football credibility through UEFA and domestic league products. Adding the World Cup to that portfolio is a different tier entirely.
- Exclusive rights cover trading cards, stickers, and trading card games
- Both physical and digital cards included
- Debut Patch cards introduced for the first time in international football
- Deal begins with the 2031 product cycle, covering the 2034 World Cup
- $150 million in free collectibles pledged to youth football programmes globally
For anyone tracking the secondary market on football cards, the 2034 cycle just became the most anticipated in the hobby's history — and the next generation of players breaking through at the 2026 and 2030 tournaments will be the ones whose debut patches end up being worth chasing.
