World Cup 2022: How much will filling up your Panini sticker book cost?

It's not long until the men's football World Cup begins in November and with it signals the start of a long tradition.

The Panini sticker book is an activity where fans can collect stickers of football players.

It's really popular, and if you aren't a collector yourself, you've may have seen kids in the playground swapping stickers.

Panini first produced a sticker album for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and the stickers have been very popular since.

But if you have started collecting this year, you may have noticed the price of the stickers has risen. Football finance expert Kieran Maguire, says completing the book could cost up to £883.80.

Read on the find out why.

The price is rising

The Panini World Cup sticker book has been popular for years

The playground craze of the Panini sticker book started in the 1970s, but it has been affected by inflation, with the price of the stickers rising.

Inflation is the increase in the price of goods and services over time.

Experts worked out the average cost of collecting and completing the album will cost around £880.

There are other causes of the price increase. Kieran Maguire, from the University of Liverpool, told the BBC it's become more expensive for Panini because they have to pay to use images of club shirts and badges.

"It's the nature of the beast, Panini have to pay a royalty figure to Fifa.

"And they have to negotiate with the individual football associations to get the rights to use the shirt and the badge. So it's an expensive business for them," adds Kieran.

A few years ago a five-pack of stickers would cost 20p, but now it's 90p.

There are 670 stickers to collect.

Maguire says if you collected all stickers on your first go, that would cost £120.60.

But Maguire adds that its "possible but highly improbable" that you can complete it with just the stickers you get first time round. Normally you're always waiting and searching for that final, rare sticker.

So when you work it out, the final total of completing the book could cost around £883.80.

The cost of living is increasing, meaning the price of things around the world is rising.

So will this increase to 90p per five-pack sticker book put off fans buying them?

Callum Watson started collecting World Cup stickers at the 2010 South Africa tournament, and the 27-year-old says he will continue this year.

"It gives me a buzz that the World Cup is about to start.

"My favourite memory is swapping with your mates, when there's loads of you around the table swapping," he adds.

Money expert Maguire says that swapping with friends is a good way to save money. Just make sure to check with an adult first.

The 32 teams who are through to the tournament are included in the album. The 670 stickers also including 50 "shinies" - the special stickers.

What do you think? Will you be collecting the stickers this year? Let us know in the comments below!