The Real Cost of Collecting McDonald’s 32 World Cup Items

Completing McDonald's new World Cup promotion requires obtaining 32 separate collectibles — nine cups and 23 Squishmallows toys. Depending on repeat draws and availability, collecting everything could mean purchasing dozens of meals before the tournament even ends.

32 Total collectibles to complete the set

9 cups + 23 Squishmallows — none sold separately, each requires a meal purchase

McDonald's FIFA World Cup 26™ promotion goes live today across U.S. locations. Order a Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets and you'll receive one of nine collectible cups featuring Christian Pulisic, David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, Son Heung-Min, Lamine Yamal, Alphonso Davies, Santiago Giménez — or Grimace. Starting June 9, Happy Meals come with one of 23 World Cup-themed Squishmallows plushies.

That number is worth sitting with for a moment, especially if you have kids.

What completing the set could actually cost

Estimated spend to complete both collections

9 cups (assuming some duplicates, ~12–15 purchases)~$120–150

23 Squishmallows (assuming duplicates, ~30–40 Happy Meals)~$180–240

Realistic total for one family$300–400+

These are rough estimates — McDonald's hasn't disclosed whether the distribution is random or region-specific. But the structure of collectible promotions historically means duplicates are common, and completing a set rarely requires exactly as many purchases as there are items.

The cup you didn't get is the point

Say you pull a Grimace cup on your first visit. Fine. But if you were hoping for Pulisic — or your kid had their heart set on a specific Squishmallow — there's a good chance a second trip starts to feel reasonable. That's not an accident. Promotions built around incomplete sets have historically been associated with higher return visit rates across fast food and retail alike.

The nine cups aren't random in their selection either. Each one maps to a different fanbase: Pulisic for U.S. supporters, Son Heung-Min for South Korean fans, Yamal for younger European audiences. A family of mixed soccer loyalties could theoretically be chasing different cups at the same time — which is also not an accident.

"The cup you got is the meal. The cup you didn't get is the reason to come back."

The World Cup does some of the work for them

The FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11 — one week after this promotion starts. McDonald's campaign language frames the meal as "matchday magic," tying a fast food visit to the feeling of being part of a global moment. With the tournament running through mid-July, the promotion has a roughly six-week window during which World Cup emotions are likely running high.

Brands that attach themselves to major sporting events have long benefited from that borrowed energy. Whether a customer is primarily motivated by the food, the cup, or the occasion is hard to say — and probably varies by person.

It happened before — and it got messy

McDonald's Japan ran a similar collect-to-win promotion with limited-edition Pokémon cards in Happy Meals. The promotion worked — perhaps too well. Long queues formed at locations, and there were widespread reports of customers purchasing meals primarily for the cards, with some food later discarded. The episode became a case study in how collectible promotions can take on a life of their own once they catch on.

Whether the World Cup cups generate anything comparable remains to be seen. But the structural similarities are there: a limited window, an incomplete set, distributed randomness, and a culturally charged moment driving urgency.

Parents, this one's aimed at your kids too

The 23-piece Squishmallows lineup runs through Happy Meals on a separate track from the adult cups. Marketers have long viewed children as highly responsive to collectible promotions — which typically means the purchasing decision falls to parents. Running both collections simultaneously means the promotion potentially has a reason to appeal to every member of a family in a single visit.

Some parents may find that straightforward. Others may find themselves doing the math on 23 Squishmallows and arriving at a different conclusion.

McDonald's has done this before

This isn't a one-off experiment. Over the past few years, McDonald's has used Grimace's birthday, BTS meal collaborations, and nostalgia-themed collector's cup sets to build promotions where the collectible is at least as much of the draw as the food. Each time, the structure is similar: a limited window, an incomplete set, and a reason to come back.

The burgers may bring customers through the door. But by the time the World Cup ends in mid-July, it may be the cups and plush toys people remember most — along with the bill.