New Issue: World Cup Football (Monaco)

This new stamp from Monaco looks forward to the FIFA World Cup Finals.

There has already been a lot of controversy about this World Cup and that is before it has even started!

However, this stamp keeps things simple and is clearly just celebrating a global football event that is being staged in three countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. The designers have thought the best thing is not to make things too complicated. So there are no FIFA logos or even the name of the event - just a giant football, three famous landmarks from the three host nations and the dates of the competition. The three landmarks are CN Tower (Canada), Chichén Itzá (Mexico) and the Statue of Liberty (USA). These show that this World Cup will be historic for being the first time three nations have jointly hosted it.

Design Quality - It's a great design. Simple is often effective and here is proof. The three landmarks, the football taking centre stage and the "zoom" behind the ball in the colours of the flags of the host nations - it's perfect. It's more like a poster than a stamp. 9/10

Theme/Subject Choice - Monaco don't have a team taking part but the World Cup is a worldwide football competition that people everywhere are interested in. 7/10

Historical and Cultural Relevance - The World Cup has huge cultural relevance, but maybe not quite so much in Monaco as some other countries. 7/10

Innovation and Creativity - It's a simple design but also a very creative one that celebrates football taking part in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The theme seems to be a sense of togetherness between the host nations. I like the "zoom" of the ball especially as the ball seems to have been kicked into the main picture showing the landmarks. Maybe this suggests that football is going to North and Central America? 8/10

Collectability - There will be a lot of football fans and World Cup thematic collectors who want this. It's also just a single stamp and not very expensive, which adds to its appeal. 9/10

Personal Appeal - I think it's a simple but very effective design. 8/10

Overall Score - 48/60