McDonald’s beat Wall Street‘s earnings expectations Tuesday — adjusted EPS of $3.38 topped the $3.32 forecast — but the underlying U.S. numbers told a different story. McDonald’s is an official FIFA World Cup sponsor — a commitment that reportedly runs in the range of $65 million to $95 million at the tournament’s second tier. Kempczinski told analysts McDonald’s World Cup promotion “didn’t generate as many sales as hoped.” Erlinger, president of McDonald’s U.S. operations since 2019, was replaced by Skye Anderson, a company veteran who had been U.S. chief operating officer for all of four months. Chairman and CEO Chris Kempczinski (pictured above) framed the shortfall carefully on the earnings call.