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The 2026 FIFA World Cup will kick off on June 11, and McDonald’s is celebrating with a new meal and the return of a beloved condiment.
Beginning June 4, the Golden Arches will be offering soccer-themed happy meals for children and adults.
For adults, the FIFA World Cup 26 Meal is available for breakfast or dinner. The AM offering gives customers the choice between a Sausage McMuffin with egg or a Sausage Biscuit with egg and a crispy, uniform hash brown.
The dinner version of the meal comes with either a Big Mac or a 10-piece Chicken McNugget.
And it ain’t just calories you can collect.
Each adult meal comes with one of nine collectible cups branded with the famous faces of the world’s greatest soccer stars: David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal, Christian Pulisic, Alphonso Davies, Santiago Gimenez, Son Heung-Min, and Ronaldinho.
Purple McDonald’s mascot Grimace also gets his own cup — because why the hell not.
Several of the players feature in a promotional video posted to social media yesterday, with Beckham himself pulling up to a McDonald’s drive-through window for his World Cup Meal, Henry catching side-eye from Grimace, and Heung-Min sharing a cheers with the Hamburglar.
“Legendary roster tbh,” the company captioned the video.
For the kiddos, the FIFA World Cup 26 Happy Meal includes the choice of a hamburger, 4-count McNuggets, or 6-count McNuggets with fries, apple slices, and a drink.
For the prize, McDonald’s has partnered with Squishmallow toys to turn FIFA mascots into squat plushies decked out in soccer jerseys.
“Hard to pick a fave in this Squishmallows huddle puddle,” the fast food chain captioned an Instagram post revealing the drop date of the meals.
While June marks the arrival of two new World Cup meals, it also heralds the return of a beloved condiment that has been absent from the menu since 2023.
Beginning this month, Big Mac Sauce dip is back and available for dipping. The sauce will be served with specialty fries and nuggets, packaged in a gold cup no less.
In 2023, a former McDonald’s chef and recipe whistleblower, Mike Haracz, revealed that those clamoring for a taste of the Big Mac Sauce could find its dupe in Great Value’s ‘Secret Sauce.’
”Look at the ingredients statement, it’s almost identical,” he said.
Haracz also offered a step-by-step recipe for creating the condiment at home.
McDonald’s is set to announce and implement a new corporate strategy, “McDonald’s>NEXT,” that focuses on increasing automation, raising hospitality standards, leaning on social media for marketing, and improving the taste of its sandwiches and fries.
The announcement of the broad strategy comes as McDonald’s tries to hold on to lower-income consumers who have cut back on restaurant visits after years of higher prices.
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