Just over a week ago, the World Cup began with a new format, arguably the most demanding of all. The final phase of the tournament has more teams than ever – it has gone from 32 to 48 selections – more matches – from 64 to 104 in total – and a new record for geographical extension encompassing the United States, Canada, and Mexico, with the long travel that this entails for national teams. Before the first inaugural match, however, another competition – equally demanding this year – was taking place all over the world: completing the Panini World Cup sticker album.

"The golden Lamine Yamal costs 100 euros". The phrase is said by a woman sitting on a bench in the ronda de Sant Antoni with files full of stickers around her. Like her, it is easy to distinguish other people equipped with similar folders among the crowd of people who are exchanging stickers in the area this Sunday. Some have even set up a small table. They are illegal sticker sellers, a phenomenon that is on the rise and has exploded in recent weeks due to the fever for World Cup stickers. This situation is exhausting the patience of the merchants at the Sant Antoni Sunday market, who have repeatedly asked the Guardia Urbana to intervene in the face of this unfair competition.

"When you get to the kiosk, they already ask you if you want World Cup stickers. They can tell by your face. The first question is: ‘Do you have them?’. And the second: ‘When will more arrive? They are selling out in many places’", explains Albert Valor, a collector.Albert Valor, collector. "This year they are selling more than ever. It's hard to find them because sales are exceeding Panini's expectations", confirms Ferran Roig, manager of the Euro Soccer Cards sticker shop.

There are several trading cards on the table. Lamine Yamal, Leo Messi, Alexia Putellas. Any two people exchanging cards, someone observing the scene from a distance might coldly summarize. But the cards that Ferran Roig (Barcelona, 1977) has left on the table are as if he had drawn ace after ace in a poker game. Some are worth thousands of euros. And those of Lamine Yamal have only just begun to increase in price this year. The one from the Rocafonda neighborhood of Mataró It also drives collectors crazy.