Thiruvananthapuram: The coastal breeze that sweeps across Shankumugham these days whispers stories of world football too.

Inside his seaside home here, Joseph Perera, a retired Titanium employee, has built a miniature world of global football history preserved in curated stamp albums. The 90-year-old has curated an extensive collection of commemorative stamps documenting the entire history of the FIFA World Cup. From iconic moments that defined the sport to legendary players and official FIFA releases, his collection traces the evolution of the world’s most-watched sporting event.

He preserves stamps issued for every World Cup edition held so far, collectively worth thousands of rupees. Even the excitement of the Qatar World Cup held four years ago also finds a place in his albums, with official stamps from all participating nations preserved. Among his prized possessions is a Sydney Olympics commemorative flag sent by former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

“After every World Cup, football lovers preserve the memories in their minds. For me, however, they live on in these tiny pieces of paper. Whenever I look at them, it feels as if history and the game come alive all over again,” he says.

Alongside football stamps, Perera boasts a collection of several rare and invaluable items, including letters from Buckingham Palace received in response to correspondence addressed to the British Queen. It also features a first-day cover issued by the postal department carrying the words of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, the first stamps issued in independent India in 1947, rare international stamps featuring Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and King Charles, as well as ancient coins of significant historical value.

He maintains detailed notes on each item in his possession. Perera says the information he painstakingly gathered from books and newspapers at the time is often not even available on Google today.