Panini strive for perfection, which is why they awaited the announcement of each country’s World Cup squad with anticipation.For players, making a World Cup squad is often the realisation of a childhood dream. For fans, it’s an opportunity to weigh up their country’s chances of glory. For the makers of the tournament’s official sticker album, it’s when they find out how much they got right — and what they got wrong.In the 2026 Panini edition, all 48 teams competing are represented, but each country’s pages has space only for 18 players from each 26-man squad. It means some player omissions are inevitable.The Italian collectables brand said this year’s edition is 88 per cent accurate. But there have been big-name misses. There is no space for Brazil’s Neymar, while Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden feature in the album but not England’s squad.From working with each country’s federation, to including players for “squad chemistry” and the agony of having to delete the Italian team, this is how the official 2026 World Cup sticker album was made.A group of Panini’s employees joined The Athletic in good spirits on a call in mid-June.The album was released on May 30, but it was earlier this month, when all squads were revealed, they found out how correct their squad selections were. For the record, 120 World Cup players missed out on making it into the album.Brazil’s Neymar is the biggest omission after manager Carlo Ancelotti ended months of speculation by including the Selecao’s all-time top scorer in his World Cup squad.The arguments to omit Neymar centred around his injury history. He had only featured in three league games in two years for Al Hilal, after joining the Saudi club from Paris Saint-Germain in 2023 and tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that October. But after returning to Brazilian club Santos, the 34-year-old rediscovered his form.While Ancelotti did include exciting forwards Endrick (Real Madrid) and Rayan (Bournemouth), they don’t feature on Brazil’s pages. Instead, there are stickers for the omitted Joao Pedro (Chelsea) and injured duo Estevao (Chelsea) and Rodrygo (Real Madrid).