A world record has been set for the most expensive football trading card sold. Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland is not only the most-wanted player in the world, but he now has the most valuable football trading card.  At a recent auction, a rare Erling Haaland card sold for $442,800.

How rare was the Erling Haaland card? Just one is in circulation. Haaland’s “superfractor” football trading card produced by Topps is literally a one-of-a-kind item. It was released by the trading card company for Haaland’s first season with Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga.

While Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi previously had trading cards that were high-priced, Haaland’s “superfractor” card was sold for nearly half a million dollars due to the potential of the striker. Currently, cards for Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe are going for large sums of money. Of course, that doesn’t mean all of the players’ cards are worth a lot of money.

Football trading cards increasing in popularity

For over a century, sports trading cards have been huge in the United States and Canada. The sports trading card market hit its pinnacle in the 1990s, but they are still popular amongst collectors.

Football trading cards are becoming more popular due to the appeal of the sport. It has helped that football has grown in popularity in the US and Canada as well, influencing sports card collectors to invest in football cards. For many collectors, sports cards are seen as an investment that they can sell later on. How much money can a sports card collector make? At a 2020 sports card auction, a Mike Trout Major League Baseball rookie card sold for $3.9 million.

American sports dominate the sports card industry, but football is surging in interest amongst collectors right now. Rookie cards of football players such as Haaland and Mbappe are rising in interest and before too long, could be worth as much as baseball, basketball, or NFL cards in North America.