McDonald's cards 2026 explained: Full list of trading cards and prizes to win

Say what you will about McDonald's (and the CEO's viral video recently), but there’s no denying that the fast food chain knows how to pull off a promo event!

As fans continue hoping for another McDonald's X Pokémon collab, the team behind the golden arches have gone ahead and designed their own trading card game using McDonald's classic characters and iconography.

These McDonald's cards are out now, and one of them is particularly rare. Keep on reading and we’ll run through some of the key details!

When is the release date for the McDonald's cards?

The McDonald's cards range has launched today (Tuesday 17th March 2026), we’re pleased to confirm.

This promo comes with a special menu, with the options on this menu being a Big Mac, Double Big Mac, Double Big Mac with Bacon, nine McNuggets, nine Spicy McNuggets, or the McPlant, all served with a side and a drink.

When you buy anything from this menu, you will also receive a pack of four McDonald's cards. Every pack of cards guarantees one ‘Character Card’, which earns you a free food item. You’ll find more on that, and the other rewards, further down this article.

How many McDonald's cards are there?

McDonald's has confirmed that there are 25 cards to be collected in the 2026 range of McDonald's cards.

The main 24 cards are split across four categories: Characters, Fans, Retro and Legendary, with the Legendary ones having holographic features.

There is also a special Chase card, making 25 in total. We’ll explain more about that 25th card in a moment, so keep reading!

Which McDonald's card is the rarest?

The rarest card in the McDonald's cards 2026 collection is a special Chase Card known as the Ronald Card.

There are only 10 of these cards in existence, according to the official McDonald's press release.

If you are lucky enough to find one of these Ronald Cards, you will win a whopping £10,000 in actual money.

Full list of McDonald's trading cards for 2026

The full list of McDonald's trading cards for 2026 looks like this, including their official numerical designations:

Set 1

#1 Hamburglar
#2 Fry Scoop
#3 Straw Dispenser
#4 Order 000

Set 2

#5 Birdie the Early Bird
#6 Can I Take Your Order?
#7 Apple Pie Tree
#8 McDonald’s Multimixer

Set 3

#9 Grimace
#10 Gherkin Transfer
#11 Coin Spin
#12 McDonaldland

Set 4

#13 McNugget Buddies
#14 Milkshake Dip
#15 Cheeseburger Chair
#16 Speedee

Set 5

#17 Phil A. O’Fish
#18 Molten Apple Pie
#19 Big Mac Jingle
#20 Location #1

Set 6

#21 Fry Girl
#22 Special Sauce
#23 McDonald’s Pizza
#24 Golden Arches

£10k Instant Win Card

#25 Ronald Card

Full list of McDonald's rewards from the cards promo

Character card rewards

When you pull a character card (there’s one in every pack), you will earn a specific reward as detailed below:

Fry Girl - free Fries

Hamburglar - free Hamburger, Cheeseburger or Mayo Chicken

McNugget Buddies - free 6 Chicken McNuggets

Phil A. O’Fish - free Filet-O-Fish or 4 Chicken McNuggets

Grimace - free Medium Soft Drink or Medium Milkshake

Birdie - free Single McMuffin

Collect to win rewards

If you successfully collect a set of cards, and log them in the McDonald's app, you will earn even more rewards.

Set One

Collect: Hamburgular, Fry Scoop, Straw Dispenser and Order 000.

Win: Free Medium Selected Meal (1 million to be won).

Set Two

Collect: Birdie the Early Bird, Can I Take Your Order?, Apple Pie Tree and McDonald’s Multimixer.

Win: McDonald's CARDS T-shirt (x40,000 to be won).

Set Three

Collect: Grimace, Gherkin Transfer, Coin Spin and McDonaldland.

Win: £50 Cash (x50,000 to be won)

Set Four

Collect: McNugget Buddies, Milkshake Dip, Cheeseburger Chair and Speedee.

Win: £100 Cash (x10,000 to be won).

Set Five

Collect: Phil A. O’Fish, Molten Apple Pie, Big Mac Jingle and Location #1

Win: Free Medium Meal a week for a year (x2,000 to be won).

Set Six

Collect: Fry Girl, Special Sauce, McDonald’s Pizza and Golden Arches.

Win: £1,000 (to be won x700).

And that’s all you need to know about the McDonald's card promo for 2026. Good luck collecting them all!

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