Young collectors display stickers of South Korea's national team during a Panini sticker trading event at a shopping mall in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, one of the host cities of the 2026 World Cup, on Sunday. (Yonhap) As the World Cup begins, a nationwide hunt for stickers featuring fans' favorite players has swept Mexico.Known as "Panini," the stickers are sold in packs of seven featuring randomly selected World Cup players. Collecting and trading them has become a hallmark of the World Cup season in Mexico and across much of Latin America and Europe.Co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 World Cup kicked off Thursday, with the tournament set to run through July 19.On Sunday morning, more than 100 people crowded the ground floor of Plaza Patria, a large shopping mall in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, news reports said. Collectors gather at Plaza Patria, a shopping mall in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday to trade and swap Panini stickers. (Yonhap) Collectors swap Panini stickers at Plaza Patria, a shopping mall in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday. (Yonhap) Collectors young and old sat cross-legged on the floor with their sticker albums spread open, while small groups gathered around them, craning their necks in hopes of spotting stickers they had yet to pick up.A typical Panini album includes national team federation logos and profile stickers of around 18 to 20 players from each participating country. A pack of stickers sells for about 20 pesos ($1), or roughly 1,700 won. A family sits on the floor and looks through a Panini sticker album at Plaza Patria, a shopping mall in Zapopan near Guadalajara, Mexico, on Sunday. (Yonhap) The sticker craze is not only a cultural phenomenon but also a lucrative business.Panini Group, the Italian company that holds the exclusive right to produce the stickers, earned $720 million from World Cup-related products during the 2022 Qatar World Cup alone. Revenues are expected to soar to $1.48 billion for the 2026 tournament.