Sticker album counter · Free · No sign-up

Sticker Album Counter

Short answer

A sticker album counter keeps track of which stickers you have and how many spare copies of each, so you always know what is missing and what to swap. This one is set up for Panini's 980-sticker World Cup 2026 album or any numbered album, and works out how many packs are left from where you are.

Free, no sign-up, works offline, and nothing leaves this browser.

0 of 9800% · 980 to goAbout 1,042 more packs of 7 to finish by buying alone. One swap now saves about 0.1 packs.

Have
0
Missing
980
Spares to swap
0
Packs opened
0
Packs to finish
1,042
New in next pack
7.00
Missing and swaps lists
Check a friend’s lists

Paste their lists above.

Album, pack size and prices

Enter what a pack costs and what the publisher charges a sticker to see the cheapest point to stop.

Type a pack’s stickers as printed (ARG 7, or ARG 3 7 12 for three of one team) and press Enter, or tap them on the page. A second tap on a sticker you have is a spare. Ctrl+Z undoes, outside a field. Each album keeps its own stickers.

Tap a sticker on the page, or type a whole pack's numbers at once. Missing and spares lists are ready to copy, a friend's lists are matched against yours, and the board says how many packs are still to go.

A sticker album is a book with a numbered space for every sticker in a set, filled from sealed packs of random stickers, so collectors trade their spares (duplicates) for the ones they lack. How many packs a full album takes is the coupon collector’s problem: the last few stickers cost far more than the first hundred.

  • No sign-up
  • No ads
  • Counts never leave your browser
  • Works offline
  • Unlimited counters

Key facts

Sticker album counter at a glance
DetailAnswer
PriceFree, no sign-up, no ads
AlbumsFIFA World Cup 2026 (Panini, 980), any numbered album up to 3,000, or your own sections
What one tap doesAdds a copy of that sticker: the first is in the album, the rest are spares
Typing a packType the numbers as printed, e.g. ARG 7, FWC 4, or ARG 3 7 12; ranges like ARG 1-20
ListsMissing and spares by team, ranges shortened, ready to copy
SwapsPaste a friend's lists to see what each of you can give the other
Packs leftExpected packs to finish from your count, and what one swap saves
Order or buyWith your prices: the point to stop buying packs and order the rest
World Cup 2026 by the numbers980 stickers, packs of 7: at least 140 packs, 1,042 on average
Where your album is keptThis browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere

How to use the sticker album counter

Pick the album once, then add stickers as packs are opened.

  1. Pick your album

    Open Album, pack size and prices. The World Cup 2026 album is set up already; choose a numbered album or type your own sections for anything else.

  2. Open a pack

    Type its stickers in the box as printed, ARG 7, BRA 13, FWC 4, and press Enter. It counts as one pack opened.

  3. Or tap them

    Page through the album with the arrows or the page list and tap a sticker to add it. A sticker you already have becomes a spare.

  4. Fix a mistake

    Switch to Tap takes one away and tap the sticker, or press Undo.

  5. Swap

    Copy your missing and spares lists for a friend, or paste theirs into Check a friend's lists to see who can give what.

  6. Decide when to order

    Enter the price of a pack and of an ordered sticker to see whether to keep buying packs or order the rest now.

Who uses a sticker album counter

Anyone filling an album from packs who wants to know what is missing, what to swap and what it will take.

  • World Cup 2026 collectors

    The 980 stickers by team code, with the specials on one page and every team's progress in the page list.

  • Parents keeping a child's album

    One list of what is missing, to take to a swap meet or a school yard.

  • Swap meets and trading groups

    Missing and spares lists in one format that this page reads back, so two collectors can match in seconds.

  • League and club albums

    Topps' Premier League, a club's own album, or any album numbered straight through.

  • Deciding when to stop buying

    The point where ordering the missing stickers beats another box of packs, at the prices in your shop.

  • Collecting with a friend

    What a swap is worth to each of you, so a late sticker is not traded for an early one.

  • Checking your luck

    Packs opened beside the average for the same count, so you can see whether you are ahead.

  • Old albums

    Any album up to 3,000 stickers, numbered from 0 or 1, kept separately from the others.

How many packs are left: the last stickers cost the most

Half of a sticker album takes less than a tenth of the packs; the last sticker alone takes more than the first half. That is the arithmetic of collecting a fixed set at random, known as the coupon collector’s problem. When most of the album is still missing, almost every sticker in a pack is new; with one missing, each pack of seven has a 7 in 980 chance of holding it, one pack in 140. The counter works out the packs still to go from the stickers you actually have. For the 980-sticker World Cup 2026 album in packs of seven, buying packs and never swapping, the averages run like this:

Panini FIFA World Cup 2026 album, 980 stickers in packs of 7: packs opened on average to reach each point, spares by then, and packs still to go, buying alone
Stickers in the albumPacks opened so farSpares by thenPacks still to go
0001,042
490, half97187946
882, 90%3211,363722
931, 95%4171,987626
960, 20 to go5402,819503
970, 10 to go6333,462409
979, 1 to go9025,338140
980, complete1,0426,3170

The figures quoted around the album are mostly for an empty one, and two of them are off. The 140-pack minimum (980 divided by 7) assumes no sticker ever arrives twice, which in practice does not happen. Scanini’s cost guide gives 980 × ln 980 ≈ 6,750 stickers, about 965 packs; that shortcut leaves out a term (Euler’s constant, 0.577, times 980), and the full figure for stickers bought one at a time is 980 × H980 = 7,316. Panini packs never repeat a sticker inside one pack, which trims it to 7,297 stickers, or 1,042 packs, the figure the counter starts from. The same method gives 4,832 stickers for the 2018 album of 682 in fives, which is the figure Cardiff University’s analysis published at the time:

Three sticker albums: the fewest packs that could fill them, and the packs and stickers it takes on average, buying alone
AlbumStickersIn a packFewest packsPacks on averageStickers bought
FIFA World Cup 2026, Panini98071401,0427,297
FIFA World Cup 2018, Panini68251379664,832
Premier League 2026, Topps5616946433,860

“On average” is doing real work there: a collector can be well ahead of or behind these numbers by luck, and the counter’s Packs opened beside Packs to finish shows which. Sources: Panini, World Cup 2026 pack contents (980 stickers, seven a packet); Scanini, album cost; Cardiff University’s 2018 estimate, as reported; Topps’ 561 stickers and six-sticker packets from Topps’ and retailers’ listings; all read 2026-10-18.

When to stop buying packs and order the missing stickers

Panini has run a missing sticker service for decades: once an album is nearly full, the last stickers can be ordered by number for a fixed price each, instead of hunted in packs. Matthew Scroggs, a mathematician who works out the World Cup album’s cost on mscroggs.co.uk, writes that Panini “let you order the last n stickers”, remembers n being 50 on the paper order forms of his school days, and found 45p a sticker charged in 2026. Panini’s international page gives neither the price nor a limit, so both are settings here. The cheapest plan is then a calculation: keep buying packs while a pack is worth its price, and order the rest. A pack’s worth is the new stickers it brings, about 7 × missing ÷ 980 on this album, so the point to stop is close to:

order when missing ≤ stickers in the album × pack price ÷ (stickers in a pack × price of one ordered sticker)

The counter solves it exactly, choosing at every count between ordering everything now and opening another pack. For the World Cup 2026 album at a pack price of 1.25 (pounds, euros or dollars: the answer does not depend on the currency, only on the two prices):

When to stop buying packs and order the missing stickers: World Cup 2026, 980 stickers in packs of 7, expected total cost
Pack pricePrice of one ordered stickerMost you may orderOrder when missingExpected totalBuying packs alone
1.250.45No limit388 or fewer336.111,302.95
1.250.36No limit486 or fewer297.231,302.95
1.250.455050540.441,302.95
2.000.45No limit622 or fewer406.722,084.80

The first row agrees with mscroggs.co.uk’s figure for the same prices (order 386, £334.54), which also counts the starter pack’s six fixed stickers; the shortcut above gives 389. Two things follow that surprise most collectors. With no limit, the cheapest moment to stop buying is when well over a third of the album is still empty, not when a handful are left. And a 50-sticker limit costs about 200 more than no limit, because the 338 stickers between 388 and 50 missing are the expensive ones to find in packs. Swapping does better than either, and is the next section. Panini says its Extra Stickers, about one in a hundred packets, are not part of the album and cannot be ordered; the counter leaves them out. Sources: mscroggs.co.uk, World Cup 2026; CBS 60 Minutes on the missing sticker service; Panini, Extra Stickers; all read 2026-10-18.

What one swap is worth, and why spares pile up

A spare is only worth what it brings back, and that changes as the album fills. Getting one missing sticker by swap instead of from packs saves, on average, stickers in the album ÷ (stickers in a pack × missing) packs. Early on a swap saves a fraction of a pack; near the end each one saves dozens. The board shows the figure for your album as one swap now saves:

What one sticker gained by swap is worth in packs not bought, World Cup 2026 album, 980 stickers in packs of 7
Stickers missingPacks one swap savesNew stickers in the next pack, on average
9800.147.00
4900.293.50
1001.40.71
502.80.36
207.00.14
10140.07
5280.04
11400.01

That is why swaps between two collectors are usually fair to both even when one is further on: each sticker is worth most to whoever needs it late. It also explains the spares pile. By the time a 980 album is half full from packs alone, a collector holds about 187 spares; at 95%, nearly 2,000. A spare is never a repeat inside one pack: Matthew Scroggs opened 345 packs in 2018 without a single pack holding the same sticker twice, which by chance would happen less than once in a hundred tries, so Panini evidently prevents it.

The counter keeps both lists ready to send. Missing writes your gaps by team, with runs as ranges (“FWC: 4-9, 12”); Spares marks extra copies as (x2). Paste a friend’s lists into Check a friend’s lists and it names which of their spares you need and which of yours they need, and how many a one-for-one swap comes to; it reads the same format back, so two people using this page can swap lists directly. Sources: mscroggs.co.uk, 2018 album; Panini America on sticker swaps; both read 2026-10-18.

Setting up your album: World Cup 2026, numbered or by team

The counter tracks stickers by the number printed on the back, so it needs the album’s numbering. Three set-ups cover most albums:

How to set up the sticker album counter for different albums
Album settingUse it forHow stickers are typed
FIFA World Cup 2026 (Panini)The 980-sticker album: 00, FWC 1 to 19, and 48 teams of 20ARG 7, FWC 4, 00, or ARG 3 7 12 for one team
A numbered albumAny album numbered straight through, from 1 or from 0, up to 3,000 stickers7, 12, 30-34
My own sectionsAlbums numbered by team or section, one line each: a code and how many (ARS 18), or a range (FWC 1-19)ARS 4, AVL 12

Panini’s page for the 2026 album counts 20 special stickers and 48 teams of 20, numbered by three-letter code (“CAN 1 to CAN 20”), with FWC for stickers that belong to no team. Checklists number the specials 00, the Panini sticker, and FWC 1 to 19; in each team, number 1 is the badge and 13 the team photo, the other 18 players. The counter lists the teams alphabetically by code; the album prints them by group, hosts first. Pack size is a setting because albums differ: seven for the 2026 World Cup, five for 2018, six for Topps’ Premier League 2026. Each of the three set-ups keeps its own stickers, so a World Cup album and a league album can be tracked side by side.

What the counter assumes, and what it cannot do

The counter assumes every sticker is printed in the same numbers. The arithmetic above depends on it, and publishers say little either way; Panini’s page for the 2026 album gives the odds of an Extra Sticker (about one in a hundred packets) but no print run for the album’s own. If one sticker really is short-printed, packs to finish will run higher than the counter says. Most stickers called rare are simply late: with ten missing, the next pack holds one of them only about once in fourteen packs.

What the sticker album counter does and does not do
It doesIt does not
Keep which stickers you have and the spare copies of eachKnow which stickers are short-printed or worth money
Work out packs still to go and what a swap saves, for your countPromise a number of packs: it gives averages
Write missing and spares lists, and match a friend’sFind strangers to trade with or send anything anywhere
Compare packs with ordering at the prices you enterKnow a publisher’s prices or order limits
Keep the album in this browser between visitsBack it up: clearing site data deletes it

Because the album lives only in this browser, copy the missing list now and then and keep it somewhere. To carry an album to another device, untick Count it as one pack opened there and type in what you have in one go: ARG 1-20 adds a whole team, and FWC 1-19 the specials.

Online counter vs a clicker, an app, paper and a spreadsheet

Every counting method trades something away. This is what each one actually costs you.

Sticker album counter compared with the alternatives
FeatureThis online counterHandheld clickerCounter phone appPen and paperSpreadsheet
CostFree$5–$15Free with ads, or paidCost of paperSubscription
Anything to installNoBuy the deviceApp store downloadNoYes, or a web login
Several counts at onceUnlimitedOne per deviceUsually limitedYes, messyYes
Fix a miscountUndo and redoStart overSometimesCross it outEdit the cell
Counts by more than oneAny step sizeOne at a timeSometimesManual mathsYes
Below zeroYesNoRarelyYesYes
Keeps the count if you close itSaves automaticallyUntil you reset the dialYesIf you keep the paperYes
Works with no signalYes, after first loadYesYesYesOften not
Keyboard and shortcutsFullNoneNoneNonePartial
Sends your data anywhereNeverNeverOften, for accounts and adsNeverYes, to the cloud

Other counter types

The same counter, set up and explained for a specific job. Your counters are shared across all of them.

Everyday6

The general-purpose counters: one number, many numbers, or counting on a timer.

Sport & scores44

Scoreboards that know the rules of their game, not just two numbers that go up.

Fitness & health7

Reps, laps, breaths and daily habits, where the count is part of the activity.

Work & field5

Counting that produces a record someone else relies on: stock, occupancy, lab work.

Faith9

Counts with their own rules about when a day turns over and what completes a set.

Frequently asked questions

How many stickers are in the World Cup 2026 album?

980. Panini counts 20 special stickers and 48 teams of 20. Checklists number the specials 00, the Panini sticker, and FWC 1 to 19; each team runs from 1, the badge, to 20, with the team photo at 13 and 18 players. Packets hold seven stickers. Panini's Extra Stickers, about one in a hundred packets, are not part of the 980.

How many packs does it take to complete the album?

At least 140 for the 980-sticker World Cup 2026 album in packs of seven, but that assumes no duplicates. Buying packs alone and never swapping, it takes about 1,042 packs, or 7,297 stickers, on average. Half the album takes about 97 packs; the last sticker alone takes about 140 more. Swapping and ordering missing stickers cut it sharply.

How do I track my doubles to swap?

Tap a sticker once when you get it and again for each extra copy; every copy after the first counts as a spare, and the sticker shows +1, +2 and so on. The spares list, written by team with extra copies marked (x2), is ready to copy and send. Typing a pack's numbers in the box does the same for all seven at once.

Is it cheaper to buy packs or order missing stickers?

Ordering wins much earlier than most collectors think. Stop buying packs when the stickers missing fall to about album size times pack price, divided by pack size times the price of one ordered sticker. For the 2026 album at 1.25 a pack and 0.45 a sticker that is 388 missing, for about 336 in all against 1,303 buying packs alone.

Why are the last stickers so hard to get?

Because each pack is a fresh random draw from the whole album. With one sticker missing from 980, a pack of seven holds it with a chance of 7 in 980, so it takes 140 packs on average. With ten missing, a pack brings a new one only about once in fourteen. The stickers are not rarer; there are just fewer of the ones you need.

Do Panini packs contain duplicates?

Not inside one pack. A mathematician who opened 345 packs of the 2018 album found no pack with the same sticker twice, which by chance alone would happen less than once in a hundred tries, so Panini evidently prevents it. Duplicates come from different packs. The counter's pack figures assume seven different stickers a pack.

Can I use it for other albums, like the Premier League?

Yes. Choose a numbered album for anything numbered straight through, from 0 or 1, up to 3,000 stickers, or My own sections for albums numbered by team: one line each, a code and how many, such as ARS 18. Set the stickers in a pack, six for Topps' Premier League 2026. Each album keeps its own stickers.

Does the sticker counter save my album?

Yes, in this browser's local storage, so it is there when you come back on the same device and browser. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account, which also means there is no backup: clearing site data or browsing privately loses it. Copy the missing list now and then to keep a record.

Counting guides

Longer answers to the questions behind the counting.

People also search for

Open the sticker album counter

Free, no sign-up, and your counts stay in your own browser.