Adrenalyn XL 2010 World Cup cards: SA vs UK edition, checklist and Champions

Updated 27 September 2026 · by the Swappies team

Panini Adrenalyn XL was Panini's trading card game for the 2010 World Cup, and it came in more than one edition. Collectors in South Africa usually have the South African edition, but UK-edition cards turn up here too - and the two do not share the same numbers. This guide explains what is in the set and how to tell which edition you are collecting.

What Adrenalyn XL is

Adrenalyn XL is Panini's football trading card game. Each player card carries an attack rating, a defence rating and an overall rating, along with the player's position, so the cards can be played against each other as well as collected.

The set: 350 cards in both editions

Both the South African and the UK edition have the same shape - 350 cards:

250 base cards - the squad players, team by team.
25 Star Players
25 Goal Stoppers
25 Fans' Favourites
25 Champions - some of the biggest names in the set, and the cards collectors find hardest to get.

Among the Champions are names like Michael Ballack, Philipp Lahm, John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Xavi Hernandez and Fernando Torres. In the collections we buy, these turn up far less often than the base cards, so expect them to be the last gaps in your binder.

South African edition vs UK edition

This is where people get caught out. The two editions contain the same kinds of cards in the same quantities, but the card numbers do not line up. A few examples from our own checklists:

Michael Ballack's Champion card is #101 in the South African edition and #100 in the UK edition.
Philipp Lahm's Champion card is #102 (SA) and #101 (UK).
John Terry's Champion card is #120 (SA) and #123 (UK).
Wayne Rooney's Champion card is #121 (SA) and #125 (UK).
Xavi's Champion card is #139 (SA) and #144 (UK); Torres is #140 (SA) and #145 (UK).

The UK edition's Champions also include a David Beckham card at #124. So "I need number 120" means a different card depending on which edition your binder is for. Before you swap or buy, check the player's name against the right checklist: Adrenalyn XL 2010 South African edition or Adrenalyn XL 2010 UK edition.

Should you mix them? For playing the game, it makes no difference. For a collection, most people keep to one edition so that every numbered slot in the binder matches - a UK card sitting in an SA binder will always be in the "wrong" place.

What finishing a 350-card set takes

If every one of the 350 cards were equally likely, you would expect to open around 2,250 cards to see them all. The first 280 different cards - 80% of the set - would take only about 560 of those; the last 70 would take roughly 1,690. And the Champions are not equally likely, so in practice the tail is even longer.

With the 2010 packets long gone from the shops, singles and swaps are the realistic way to finish. We sell single cards from both editions - singles currently from R25 - and deliver to PUDO lockers across South Africa.

Tips for collectors

Sort by edition first. Before anything else, work out which of your cards are SA and which are UK by checking names against numbers on the two checklists.
Sleeve the specials. Champions and the other inserts are the cards worth protecting; a crease or a soft corner on a 2010 card cannot be undone.
Sell doubles in one parcel. We buy Adrenalyn XL 2010 cards from either edition. You pay the postage to us (about R49), so we take sell offers from R100 - save your doubles and send them together.

Finish your Panini Adrenalyn XL 2010 FIFA World Cup (SA Edition)

Paste the numbers you are missing on the checklist and we add every one we have in stock - one order, delivered anywhere in South Africa.

Open the checklist Sell us your doubles