Each country's pages have room for only 18 players from every 26-man squad, making some omissions unavoidable. For players, making a World Cup squad is often the realization of a childhood dream. For fans, it is a chance to weigh up their country's chances. For Panini, squad announcements are the moment the company finds out how much it got right and what it got wrong.
Biggest misses after squads were confirmed
A group of Panini employees joined a call in mid-June in good spirits to review the results. 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.
Arguments to omit Neymar from the album centered on his injury history. He had featured in only three league games across 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. After returning to Brazilian club Santos, the 34-year-old rediscovered his form.
While Ancelotti did include exciting forwards Endrick of Real Madrid and Rayan of Bournemouth, they do not feature on Brazil's album pages. Instead, there are stickers for the omitted Joao Pedro of Chelsea and injured duo Estevao of Chelsea and Rodrygo of Real Madrid.
Other big-name absences from the album include young stars Pau Cubarsi of Spain, Gilberto Mora of Mexico, and Kerim Alajbegovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Seemingly obvious World Cup selections have also missed out, including Elliot Anderson of England and Rayan Cherki of France.
Thomas Tuchel's England squad selection was a particular complication for the album. The collection does not feature Anderson, Nico O'Reilly, Noni Madueke, or Eberechi Eze. Cole Palmer, Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Phil Foden feature in the album but not in England's squad.
Germany's goalkeeper shock
Panini's goalkeeper inclusion for Germany was Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who suffered a season-ending hamstring injury in January. Goalkeeping great Manuel Neuer, who had retired from international football after Euro 2024 was a shock inclusion in Germany's World Cup squad.
I was blown away by the selection of Neuer, because he was actually retired three weeks ago, so that was for me like the biggest surprise
Daniele Castagna, Panini Sport collectables approval and product compliance coordinator, offered that reaction when discussing how squad reveals compared with the album's player selections.
How Panini built its player lists
From working with each country's federation, to including players for squad chemistry, and the agony of having to delete the Italian team, the 2026 edition required consensus across a wide editorial process. Panini strives for perfection, which is why the company awaited the announcement of each country's World Cup squad with anticipation.
Castagna explained how the brand reached agreement on which players to include.
We have a dedicated editorial sports team (of 10-12 people) whose job is to analyse a wide range of data points
Football knowledge plays a big role, but we also look at qualification matches, friendly games, playing time, and performances at club level, current form, injuries, and many other factors.
We work directly with the national federations, sharing our proposed selection and listening to their feedback and eventual suggestions, and it's a very collaborative process.
Sometimes, you can feel they are not telling us the truth completely, they keep some secrets, some surprises. But aside from special occasions, l
Panini said this year's World Cup album is 88 percent accurate. For the record, 120 World Cup players missed out on making it into the album after every squad was revealed.
