Quick Answer
McDonald's has launched a global FIFA World Cup 26 promotion built around three pieces: the FIFA World Cup 26 Meal with a Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets, a gold foil Big Mac dipping sauce and tournament branded packaging; a set of nine collectible cups featuring soccer legends and current stars with a Grimace wildcard; and a FIFA World Cup 26 Happy Meal built around 23 Squishmallows in custom soccer kits.
The promotion is live at participating restaurants in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the three host countries, with separate rollouts in markets where McDonald's is a national FIFA partner. Adult meals also include a scannable digital code that unlocks mini games on the tournament microsite.
What is in the FIFA World Cup 26 Meal
The promotion leans on the core menu rather than experimental builds. The structure is familiar McDonald's combo math with World Cup branding wrapped around it.
- Entree choice. Big Mac or a 10 piece Chicken McNuggets box. Both are headline menu items the chain knows it can serve at speed during half time rushes.
- The gold foil sauce. A limited edition gold foil packet of Big Mac sauce ships with every meal. The sauce itself is the standard recipe. The packaging is the collectible element.
- Breakfast tie in. For markets where matches air in morning hours, the promotion extends to Sausage McMuffin with Egg, biscuits and hash browns in tournament branded packaging.
- Drink and side. Standard drink and fries options, with the cups serving as the actual collectible draw of the meal.
The nine collectible cups
The cups are the part of the promotion most likely to drive repeat visits. McDonald's has assembled a roster that mixes legends, current stars and one curveball from inside the brand's own mascot family.
- David Beckham
- Ronaldinho Gaucho
- Thierry Henry
- Christian Pulisic
- Son Heung min
- Lamine Yamal
- Alphonso Davies
- Santiago Gimenez
- Grimace, the purple McDonaldland mascot, as a wildcard
The Grimace cup is the one most likely to spike on resale sites in the first month. Past McDonald's collectible runs that pair mainstream sports figures with a mascot cameo have followed the same pattern, where the mascot variant becomes the harder pull because it is produced in smaller volumes.
The Happy Meal upgrade
The FIFA World Cup 26 Happy Meal collaborates with Squishmallows. The set features 23 plush characters, each dressed in a custom soccer kit with team inspired colorways, numbers and McDonald's graphic accents. The 23 figure mirrors a standard senior tournament squad size, which is intentional design messaging.
Every Happy Meal box also includes a scannable code that unlocks interactive mini games on the official Happy Meal site for the duration of the tournament. The games rotate weekly with new content tied to the match schedule, which is the chain's bid to keep kids engaged across the full tournament window rather than the first weekend.
How the rollout works geographically
The three host countries get the headline launch. The United States, Canada and Mexico operations all carry the meal, the cups and the Happy Meal program. Outside North America, the lineup varies by market.
In Europe, the cups and meal are available at participating restaurants in major McDonald's footprints including the UK, France and Germany, with rollout staggered to align with each market's local soccer broadcast schedule. In South America, the cups are available alongside locally relevant promotional items tied to the qualifying teams from the continent. In Asia, the Son Heung min cup is the marquee pull and the Happy Meal Squishmallows are confirmed for Japan and South Korea.
Why this is the biggest McDonald's sports promotion in years
McDonald's is a long standing FIFA partner and has run World Cup themed promotions for every tournament since 1994. The 2026 edition stands out for three reasons.
- Three host country footprint. The tournament being played across the US, Canada and Mexico means the chain can run a continuous month long activation across its three largest North American markets simultaneously, with consistent assets and packaging.
- Mascot cameo strategy. Including Grimace in the collectible set borrows the energy of the 2023 Grimace shake viral moment and gives social media a built in talking point.
- Squishmallows partnership. Squishmallows is one of the most heavily collected toy properties in the world right now. Pairing the brand with a tournament Happy Meal locks in the family demographic in a way generic soccer themed toys would not.
How the digital activation works
The scannable code in each adult meal and Happy Meal box opens a tournament microsite that runs through the duration of the World Cup. The site rotates a small lineup of free mini games tied to live match results, and the rewards inside the site include digital wallpapers, an in app rewards multiplier inside the McDonald's app, and entries into market specific sweepstakes for tournament tickets and signed jerseys. None of the gameplay requires a separate download, which is intentional. The chain wants kids and casual visitors playing inside a browser without an app install step.
Pricing and value math
The FIFA World Cup 26 Meal is priced at the local equivalent of a standard Big Mac or 10 piece McNuggets combo, with the cup included rather than upsold. The Happy Meal carries the standard Happy Meal price across the three host countries, with the Squishmallow priced into the meal itself. McDonald's almost never breaks out the marginal cost of the collectible component, but the historical pattern with Happy Meal collaborations like the Cactus Plant Flea Market box and the original Squishmallows run is that meal traffic spikes by a meaningful double digit percentage during the promotional window, which is why the chain can afford to absorb the toy cost.
Collector tips
Two practical notes if you are planning to chase the full set.
- Cups rotate. Most stores randomize the cup you get with each order to encourage repeat visits. Some markets allow a request for a specific design when stock is on hand. Ask at the counter.
- Squishmallows availability. The 23 figure set rarely ships every figure to every store. Use the chain's app to check participating locations and confirm which specific Squishmallow is in stock that week before driving across town for a hard pull.
The takeaway
The McDonald's 2026 FIFA World Cup menu is built around three offers: a tournament branded core meal with a gold foil Big Mac sauce, nine collectible cups featuring soccer legends, current stars and a Grimace wildcard, and a Happy Meal with 23 Squishmallows in custom soccer kits plus a digital mini game code. The promotion is live across the three host countries with staggered rollouts in major international markets. The Grimace cup and the harder to find Squishmallows will drive the collector chase, while the gold foil sauce is the headline grabbing visual that the chain is leaning on for social media.
