CGC Cards Registry Featured Set: 2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection

For the first time in more than three decades, the United States will host FIFA World Cup matches this summer, as the global soccer tournament spans North America in 2026. The US men's national team reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, marking their best performance in the modern era. Considering there is more American talent today playing abroad in the best club leagues around the world, many have high hopes for Team USA to once again make it out of the knockout stage, especially since they're playing in their home country.

The game of soccer continues to grow in the US, as more and more fans tune into the top leagues in Europe and domestic leagues like Major League Soccer (MLS), while also paying attention to international competitions and qualifiers. This uptick in soccer fandom has also carried over to card collectors, with CGC seeing an increase in soccer card submissions that pass through the grading room, especially as the World Cup nears. From high-value Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo cards to new and old World Cup stickers, CGC receives a variety of soccer-based submissions on a regular basis these days.

As the World Cup kicks off on June 11, CGC is revisiting one CGC Cards Registry user's impressive complete soccer card set that features many of the current players on the US men's national team World Cup roster. CGC Cards Registry set owner UDMan's top-ranked 2021 PANINI INSTANT U.S. SOCCER COLLECTION showcases every single player's card that is included in the 30-card set, with the men's team representing the first 15 cards in the 2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection set. The set owner has filled every slot, completing 100% of the total set, but that's not all. Every single card in the set owner's collection earned grades of CGC Gem Mint 10 and all 30 cards are Top Pops, which helped the set owner earn the prestigious Top Ranked distinction for 2022 to 2025.

The Panini Instant series is a trading card program that produces limited-edition cards to commemorate specific sports moments in real-time. Championships, awards and honors, broken records, impressive feats, and other milestones in sports are captured on these Instant cards, which are usually available for pre-order not long after the moment occurred.

In 2021, the card maker created the Panini Instant US Soccer Collection to highlight the top players from both the US Men's National Team (USMNT) and US Women's National Team (UWSNT) rosters. Oddly enough, the US Soccer series was created under the Instant platform, but there is not any mention of "Instant" on any of the cards from this set.

The 30-card set features 15 US men's national team players (#1-15) and 15 US women's national team players (#16-30) on licensed cards. Additionally, collectors could purchase full sets of all 30 cards. Full set purchases at the time also included a free bonus card of Ricardo Pepi, which was the first official card to showcase the young star wearing a USA national team uniform.

The 2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection utilizes a simple and sleek design, with overlapping borders that surround most but not all of the edges of the cards. Each card features the US Soccer crest at the top left, the player's name at the bottom, and the player's position and "2021 U.S. Men's National Team" written on the right side of the card. The modern design mainly runs around the edges of the front of each card, allowing a large in-game image of the athletes to take center stage.

The backs have an even more straight-forward design. They feature the card number at the top middle, with a huge US Soccer crest just below. The player's name and position are repeated in the middle of the card and a short bio about the player's club and national team careers is featured just below.

Although the set released five years ago, the 2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection showcases several star players that are in their prime today. In fact, many of the cards found in the set feature players who are on the US roster and will be playing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Some of those players include Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson, Tyler Adams, Westin McKennie, Antonee Robinson, and more. For the full USMNT checklist from the 2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection, see below.

2021 Panini Instant US Soccer Collection: USMNT Checklist

• #1 Brenden Aaronson
• #2 Kellyn Acosta
• #3 Tyler Adams
• #4 Paul Arriola
• #5 John Brooks
• #6 Sergino Dest
• #7 Aaron Long
• #8 Weston McKennie
• #9 Matt Miazga
• #10 Yunus Musah
• #11 Christian Pulisic
• #12 Giovanni Reyna
• #13 Antonee Robinson
• #14 Zach Steffen
• #15 Timothy Weah
• Bonus: Ricardo Pepi

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games, and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs, and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation, and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray, and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.

CGC is part of the Certified Collectibles Group, a global provider of expert and impartial authentication and grading services for collectibles. Since 1987, the Certified Collectibles Group companies have certified more than 110 million collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, cards, autographs, and stamps.

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