In Latin America, World Cup sticker culture is a quadrennial craze

Like every four years, the Panini album of the World Cup, which this time will be held in Qatar from Nov 20 to Dec 18, measures the temperature of a region that goes out of its way for football, and that is excited with the possibility for Lionel Messi or Neymar to break the European hegemony. Photo: AFP

Some spend crazy amounts, others line up at dawn or gather at informal swap meets - anything to satisfy a passion that combines love of soccer, this year's World Cup in Qatar and the ever-popular pursuit of Panini soccer stickers.

Sold in 150 countries, the stickers seem to arouse a particular frenzy in Latin America because of the possibility that this might be the last World Cup for Argentinian football icon Lionel Messi, who is 35, or that a Latin American side might finally break Europe's hold on the Cup.