Panini World Cup 2026 Launches Donruss Set on April 22
Panini world cup 2026 opened on April 22, 2026 with the release of 2025/26 Panini Donruss Road to FIFA World Cup Soccer. It is the first product in Panini’s Road to FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup and sets the tone for the card company’s buildout around the expanded 48-team tournament.
Donruss Road to FIFA
The release centers on a 250-card base set built around stars, emerging prospects and legends from 30 national teams. For collectors, that makes Donruss the entry point to a lineup that will also include Select, Noir and the premium National Treasures.
Panini has used the Donruss name in soccer every year since 2015, and the brand’s World Cup tie-in is not new. Panini first used the Road to FIFA World Cup label for Qatar 2022 with 2021/22 Donruss Soccer Road to FIFA World Cup Qatar.
Messi and Mbappé
That earlier release added one of the chase cards that made the format matter: a Messi Kaboom card that reached grail-tier status. The new lineup again puts Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé among the featured players, keeping the focus on the names collectors are most likely to chase when the product hits the market.
The broader structure matters too. Donruss is the volume-heavy starting point in the Road to FIFA World Cup 2026 run, while Select is set for May 2026 and Noir and National Treasures sit higher on the premium scale. For collectors tracking the World Cup cycle, April 22 was the start of the checklist that will carry into the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
48-Team Tournament
The 2026 World Cup expansion to 48 teams gives this release a wider pool of national teams and a larger collector base to follow. Panini’s first move was the one designed to cover the most ground: a 250-card Donruss set built to start the run before the more premium releases arrive.
