What Cards to Collect at the 2026 World Cup: Group E

Group E features one of the perennial powers in international soccer, Germany, the 2014 World Cup winners, and a few up-and-coming teams, the Ivory Coast and Ecuador. Plus, World Cup newcomers, Curaçao.

The card selections will be limited from Curaçao, so we'll highlight an extra German player, as they have more hobby-relevant names.

Germany: MF Florian Wirtz, MF Jamal Musiala

Florian Wirtz has held hobby appeal since before his big-money move to Liverpool, but it hasn't hurt either. He's been the "Next Big Thing!" for Germany for years, but it hasn't quite panned out to him being on the Lamine Yamal-level of the sport, but he is an outstanding player.

Despite the disappointing season at Liverpool, Wirtz has had three of his top 10 all-time sales, including his top sale, all in the last three months leading up to the World Cup and shockingly none of them are his rookie cards.

Florian Wirtz Tier One Auto | Card Ladder

Wirtz has rookie cards in the 2020-21 Topps Bundesliga sets, and his Tier One RC autos can be had for $1200-1500 and look amazing.

As for Musiala, he's been a darling of the hobby since his rookie year. He was also a rookie in 2020-21 products for Topps and Panini, but has significantly more cards, as he was on Bayern Munich and included in the Bundesliga sets, like Wirtz, as well as in the Champions League sets for Topps and Panini.

Jamal Musiala Obsidian Contra | Card Ladder

The 2020-21 design for Obsidian is so clean in comparison to some of the more recent releases, and the print run is much lower. While this Contra /9 is north of $2,500, a Red Flood /28 could be had for closer to $600-700.

Ivory Coast - F Yan Diomande

Yan Diomande has been the biggest breakout star of 2026. At just 19, he's been a consistent starter for RB Leipzig, who finished 3rd in the German Bundesliga this season, and is now going to be a starter for the Ivory Coast at the World Cup.

In 2024, at 16, he was playing high school soccer and USL Premier Division soccer in Florida. By the end of 2024, he signed with Spanish side Leganes on a free transfer, and six months later moved to RB Leipzig for $23.6 million.

When the Bundesliga sets first dropped, Diomande was a chase, but not quite on the level of Lennart Karl of Bayern Munich or Said El-Mala of FC Koln. He'll be the only one of the three at the World Cup after El-Mala was shockingly left off the German World Cup team, and Lennart Karl got injured in training.

His Gold or Gold Lava /50 cards for 2025-26 Topps Chrome Bundesliga last two sales are $250 and $260. His autos and lower-numbered cards can go for $1,200+.

Ecuador - MF Kendry Paez

This selection would have looked a lot better in 2024 when Kendry Paez was 17 and starting for Ecuador at the 2024 Copa America tournament. Since then he's moved to Chelsea and was unable to find playing time and was loaned out to Strasbourg in France, where he also struggled for playing time. He was eventually loaned out to River Plate where he's also struggled to find playing time with just 3 starts in 14 games.

However, Paez is still just 19 years old and has played well for Ecuador when called upon. Moises Caicedo was the other option here, but the market has been pretty clear about not prioritizing defensive midfielders. Caicedo is the signficantly better player, to be sure.

Kendry Paez Radiating Rookies | Card Ladder

While Paez has rookies in the 2024 Panini Prizm Copa America set, he also has rookies in 2025-26 Topps Chrome Premier League (in a Chelsea jersey) or 2025-26 Topps Chrome UCC (in a Strasbourg jersey). I'd prioritize his Copa America cards, but they go for much more than his Topps Chrome UCC rookies, with a Radiating Rookie available for $100.

We'll continue with more World Cup Group collecting previews, with Group F up next.

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