World Cup debutants to wear collectable patches on shirts

Breaking news from the world of sport: World Cup debutants to wear collectable patches on shirtsImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Fans will be able to collect the patches for World Cup debutants from 2031ByDale Johnson Football issues correspondentPublished11 minutes agoPlayers who make their first tournament appearance at this summer's Fifa World Cup will wear a debut patch on their shirts. Players such as Erling Haaland and Lamine Yamal will make their World Cup bows this summer - as will every player in the Scotland squad. It is part of a new licensing deal which will see Fanatics replace Panini as Fifa's partner for trading cards and stickers from 2031.

The patches will be removed from shirts after a player's debut and turned into collectable Topps trading cards. The design of the World Cup patch has not yet been finalised. Debut patches have been used in US sports for several years, and were introduced into Major League Soccer in 2024.

Match Details

Fifa has not confirmed full details of how the process will work for the 2026 World Cup, but it is expected to work in a similar way to MLS - which also has a licensing agreement with Fanatics. Each team is provided with a stock of debut patches, which are stuck to a player's shirt on the upper-right chest with adhesive before they make their debut. After the game, the patch is removed and placed on to a unique collectable trading card.

The card is then sent to Topps to be randomly inserted into a Chrome MLS hobby box, which retail at about $120 (£88). Each hobby box contains 21 packs of four cards. Two cards in each complete box are unique autograph cards.

The MLS cards are autographed by the player, though it has not been confirmed if this will be the case for the World Cup. As the Fanatics deal does not kick in until 2031 they will not be available to buy until after this date. It means there will be a huge stock of debut cards from the 2026 and 2030 finals to create a set of World Cup collectables.

Reactions and Expectations

This summer's event is likely to produce upwards of 600 cards. Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their first appearances. Austria, the Czech Republic, DR Congo, Haiti, Iraq, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Scotland and Turkey are back after long absences.

Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ivory Coast return for the first time in 12 years and will have almost complete squads of debutants.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.