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.
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