Two Croatian soccer-memorabilia collectors, Davor and Marko, plan to acquire new jerseys during the 2026 FIFA World Cup beginning this Thursday.
The pursuit highlights the growing global market for sports memorabilia and the dedication of fans who treat athletic apparel as historical archives. For these collectors, the tournament represents a primary opportunity to secure rare items from a diverse array of international teams.
Davor and Marko have spent 10 years [2] building their current collection, which now contains more than 6,000 football jerseys [1]. The pair intends to use the upcoming tournament in North America to further expand this archive.
The 2026 event features an expanded format, with 48 teams [3] competing for the title. This increase in participating nations provides a broader variety of jerseys for collectors to target compared to previous iterations of the tournament.
Logistical scale defines the current event, which utilizes 11 stadiums [5] and 36 base camps [4] across the host region. These venues and training sites serve as the primary hubs where collectors often attempt to source authentic apparel.
The collectors' focus remains on the authenticity and variety of the pieces they acquire. By targeting jerseys from the 48 teams [3], they aim to document the visual history of the sport through the kits worn by players on the world stage.
“Davor and Marko have spent 10 years building their current collection”
The expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams increases the volume and variety of official memorabilia entering the market. For high-volume collectors like Davor and Marko, the 2026 tournament offers a unique opportunity to diversify their holdings with jerseys from nations that may have previously lacked the visibility or qualification status to produce widely available kits.
