Eagle-eyed World Cup viewers have noticed that a variety of special sleeve patches are being worn by a large number of players in the tournament. These patches will eventually end up Topps trading cards, but some mystery surrounds the full scope of their existence.What’s curious about the small but potentially valuable new additions to the tournament is that there have been minimal mentions of these patches by FIFA, Fanatics (which owns Topps) or match commentators since the World Cup began last week.In May, both FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin initially lauded the presence of patches designated for future Topps cards to The Athletic when announcing the seismic trading card and sticker license shift to Topps in 2031, ending FIFA’s decades-long partnership with Panini.“This deal starts only in a few years and will run for several years and various tournaments, but it also includes the first-ever players jersey patch program that will actually kick off at this upcoming FIFA World Cup,” Infantino said at the time.“For the previous three years (before Fanatics could use the license), the NFL put Debut patches on rookies when they played their first game and then they saved those relics until the rights kicked in,” Rubin said. “I think we do that across every sport. There’s a multi-year cycle when you launch together. … We did the NFL, the NBA and MLB and they were all basically five years in advance. So I think this is the right time to announce it and start to build the initiatives.”After an initial wave of panic within the soccer social media world last month that the patches would cover a sizable portion of a player’s chest, the reality is that they’re so small many viewers may not have even noticed they’re thereMeanwhile, other patches outside of the Debut patches are also appearing on players’ shirts, commemorating various individual achievements, but they’ve been added with no official public mention or explanation.Here is everything we know about the World Cup patch program so far. Be sure to check back as we’ll update with more information as it becomes available.Before getting to the smallest sleeve patches — why do some teams have a gold 2026 World Cup logo patch on their sleeve when others have a white or a black one?The gold tournament logo sleeve patches are only worn by teams that have previously won the World Cup. That includes defending champions Argentina, as well as Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, England, France and Spain. All other nations wear the black (if the sleeve is a light color) or white (if the sleeve is a dark color) patches.What are the tiny patches worn right below the tournament patch?Directly below the 2026 World Cup logo sleeve patch, select players are wearing the officially announced Debut patch, plus several other unannounced patches, according to a FIFA World Cup kit guidelines document obtained by Footy Headlines.Fanatics declined to comment on these additional patches when asked by The Athletic and FIFA has not responded to a request for further information.Here’s what’s been reported, though:Debut patch: Worn by all players appearing in their first World Cup.The Debut patch worn by Czechia’s Ladislav Krejci during his appearance against Korea Republic. (Molly Darlington/Getty Images)Legacy patch: Worn by all players who have appeared in five or more World Cups (Croatia’s Luka Modric, Japan’s Yuto Nagatomo, Germany’s Manuel Neuer, Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Argentina’s Lionel Messi). Note that this patch was not worn by Mexico’s Guillermo Ochoa because he has been a part of six World Cup squads, yet has only played in three.