The ranked match
A ranked match is played against another player, live or as an async challenge: 10 questions with 4 options (3 easy, 4 medium, 3 hard), over two halves of 5 questions with a 5-second break. Each question lasts 10 seconds: 2.5 seconds to read, then 7.5 seconds to answer. Every right answer is worth a goal; level on goals, it is a draw.
Live, both players get the same question, with the same options, at the same moment, drawn from a common international football programme; in an async challenge, each plays the same 10 questions in turn, with the same options and the same timer. Nothing is adapted to anyone’s country, language, profile or level: the language only changes the translation. Hints are turned off. Quitting after kick-off counts as a defeat.
The rating
Everyone starts at 1,500. After each match, your rating moves according to the result and your opponent’s rating: beating a higher-rated player earns more, losing to a lower-rated player costs more, and a draw against a stronger player can move you up.
The rating measures your level, not how much you play: playing a lot does not push it up mechanically. Only the outcome counts (win, draw or defeat): not the goal difference, not speed, not purchases, not ads.
Placement and reliability
Your rating comes with a reliability: the more ranked matches you play, the more precise it gets. During your first 10 matches (placement), you appear in the list of players in placement, without a rank. After that, you get your world rank.
If you play no match for a long time, the reliability slowly drops. If it gets too low, you are listed as “to be reconfirmed”, without a rank, until new matches restore it.
The world ranking
Ranked players are ordered by rating, highest first (same rating = same rank). In the app, you see your world rank, your rounded rating and its reliability, your matches and your wins, draws and defeats (season and overall), your progress over the season and over your last 10 matches, and the end date of the season.
Seasons
A season lasts one calendar month, Paris time. A match — live or an async challenge — counts for the season in which it finishes. The rating is not reset: it carries on from one season to the next; each season has its own record and its own progress.
Matchmaking
Matchmaking looks for a human opponent with a similar rating. The accepted gap widens as each of the two players waits (table below). After 2 minutes without a compatible opponent, the search stops: nothing is spent and nothing is counted. FootiQX uses no bots. If nobody is available live after a few seconds of searching (15 seconds at the earliest; later if a compatible opponent is already waiting, to favour live play), FootiQX automatically finds you a real player who will play the same questions later (an async challenge), and your match starts straight away, with nothing to choose. Your opponent, a player recently active on FootiQX who isn’t looking for a live match themselves at that moment, has 48 hours to play; the result is only known once both turns are finished. Same world championship, same rating; no win is ever awarded against a player who never started. No opponent is guaranteed: if nobody is available, live or later, the search stops and nothing is charged.
Accepted rating gap depending on the waiting time
| Waiting time | Maximum rating gap |
|---|
| 0 to 10 s | ± 100 |
| 10 to 25 s | ± 200 |
| 25 to 45 s | ± 350 |
| 45 to 75 s | ± 500 |
| 75 to 120 s | ± 700 |
To prevent fixed matches, the same two players can play at most 3 ranked matches in 24 hours, at least 5 minutes apart. Friend challenges and tournaments never count towards the championship.
Energy: 5 free ranked matches a day
A ranked match costs 2 ⚡ per player: live, taken when the match is created; in an async challenge, each player is charged when their own turn actually starts. Every day (Paris time), your daily allowance is reset to 10 ⚡; it never builds up and missed days are not made up: your daily allowance covers five ranked matches (fewer if you also play Solo). Energy you earn (bonuses, rewarded videos, the daily gift) and energy you buy are added on top and kept; the day’s allowance is used first, then free energy, then purchased energy. The first account created on a verified device gets 20 ⚡ in total: 10 from the allowance and a one-off 10 sign-up bonus (if the device cannot be verified, this gift stays pending).
To play more, optional refills: rewarded videos, gem offers or in-app purchases. Energy buys matches, never wins: neither the rating, nor matchmaking, nor the questions take energy, purchases or ads into account.
If a match is cancelled (technical problem, or neither player present at kick-off), both players are refunded. If no opponent is found, nothing is taken. Reconnecting resumes the same match, with no new charge. In an async challenge, if your opponent declines or does not play within 48 hours, your energy is returned.
Advertising
At most one full-screen ad may be shown every three finished games, across all game modes, when you leave the results screen (never after your first game). Never during a question, at half-time or while reconnecting, with a minimum delay between two and a daily cap. Ads are always non-personalised. Only the “No ads” option (an in-app purchase, or an entitlement granted by support) removes these full-screen ads: the welcome pack, gems and energy do not.
Rewards and leagues
- No end-of-season gems at launch: the season gives a ranking and a record, with no gem reward.
- Leagues are planned, but not available yet. The questions will never change with the league.
