The excitement of sticker collecting has returned with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Cup qualification. The sound of opening sticker packs, the search for an Edin Džeko sticker, and sticker swaps that bring families together have once again sparked Panini fever across the country. The new album is quickly selling out, but Damir Bakrač from Bihać has spent years preserving memories from World Cups and European Championships. His passion has lasted for almost thirty years. What started as a childhood love for football grew into something much more than a hobby.
“My brother was the one who started collecting the 1998 album. He would bring stickers and duplicates home from school, and we collected them together because of our love for football.”
His brother eventually stopped collecting stickers, but Damir did not. Album by album and championship by championship, he built a collection that today looks like a small history of football.
“There are 21 completed albums from World Cups and European Championships here, along with this one from 2026, which still needs to be completed. I am also missing a few albums from the European Championships — 1980 and 1984 — and from the World Cups — 1970, 1974, and 1978. Those are the five that are missing, so we’ll see if I can complete the collection.”
Among all the albums, however, one holds a special place: the 2014 World Cup album, when Bosnia and Herzegovina qualified for the tournament for the first time. His favourite sticker is Edin Džeko.
What started as a childhood hobby is now something that thousands of people are enjoying once again. It is not only children who attend sticker swap events, but also sisters, mothers, friends, and football fans of all ages.
Today, Damir owns albums that are more than forty years old. He spent years searching for some of them. He travelled to sticker swap events in Zagreb, followed auctions, and waited for the right opportunity.
“For the 1986 Mexico album, a man set the starting price at 50 euros. I was the only bidder, and I ended up getting an album worth around 500 euros.”
A simple paper sticker can still bring people together at a time when everything is stored on phones and easily accessed on screens. For some, these are just albums and stickers, but for others they are small time capsules, pages where childhood, football, and unforgettable moments live on.
