Anybody got a Rio Ferdinand? World Cup causes sticker madness in Brazil.

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Anybody got a Rio Ferdinand? World Cup causes sticker madness in Brazil.

The World Cup comes but once every four years. For those in Brazil, this means collecting little stickers of the players (such as Englishman Rio Ferdinand), teams, and logos of the 24 nations participating in South Africa.

Andre Penner/AP

World Cup stickers for sale at a newsstand in S茫o Paulo, Brazil. Fans can easily end up with half a dozen Ronaldinho stickers (Brazil) and no Rio Ferdinand (England). Public swaps are now common.

By Andrew Downie Correspondent

June 09, 2010, 12:43 p.m. ET | S茫o Paulo, Brazil

鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

In a soccer-mad nation like Brazil, the World Cup means much more than a month of sport. It鈥檚 the excitement of gathering round the television with friends and family at all times of the day and night. It鈥檚 about the shared love of a game that鈥檚 as popular in Rangoon as it is in Rio. It鈥檚 about selling bigger flat-screen TVs. It鈥檚 about beating Argentina.

And it鈥檚 about collecting little stickers of soccer players to put in your album.

鈥淲丑别苍 World Cup year comes around I get excited just thinking about getting an album and starting collecting,鈥� said Macida Joachem, who has kept albums ever since she was a girl. 鈥淚t gets us into the spirit of the tournament.鈥�

IN PICTURES: Ready for the World Cup and Ahead of the World Cup, South African Soccer Dreams

Collecting stickers has become an integral part of the pre-World Cup experience for thousands of Brazilians. The stickers are so widely popular that gunmen in April made off with 675,000 of them from the S茫o Paulo distributor.

The stickers feature the players, teams, and logos of the 24 nations participating in South Africa. There are 638 stickers in all and newsstands sell packets of five for around 40 cents. The stickers go in a $2 album. Collecting them all sounds easy but it isn鈥檛. Fans can easily end up with half a dozen Ronaldinhos (Brazil) and no John Terrys (England), great news if you鈥檙e a coach but no use if you want a full album.

To resolve the problem, fans have set up Internet sites to exchange stickers, posted appeals on Facebook, and organized public swaps. There are at least six regular meeting points each weekend in S茫o Paulo. And the people who frequent them are not just kids. Collecting stickers might seem like a childish pastime but adults like Ms. Joachem are just as interested.

鈥淓very year I see more adults,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t reminds me of my childhood but it鈥檚 also educational. It teaches you about exchanging and sharing and respect, too. Kids need to learn about that.鈥�