Quiniela Tena
From Excel to web app: 10 years of a friends football pool, three World Cups, and real users in production
The origin
It started as a football pool between coworkers and friends — those informal bets on who gets the most correct match predictions. The first version was an Excel file someone updated manually. Then came Google Forms to collect predictions, with results in a shared spreadsheet.
Ten years later, the pool is still active — and this year it hosts its third World Cup. What started as an Excel file became a full web app where participants register their predictions, see real-time results, and pay their entry fee directly on the platform.
The evolution
Excel
Shared file, manual updates, version conflicts.
Google Forms
Predictions via form, results in Sheets, better but limited.
Web App
Firebase, payments, external APIs, real users, v2.5 in production.
What does the app do?
Online predictions
Each participant fills in their predictions directly on the platform, without external forms or spreadsheets.
Real-time results
ESPN integration to update results automatically. The leaderboard updates itself.
Integrated payments
Mercado Pago integrated for entry fee payments directly on the platform.
WhatsApp notifications
Automatic WhatsApp alerts for new results or pending prediction reminders.
Image generation
Automatic result banners generated and saved to Google Drive for sharing in the group.
Admin panel
Panel to manage participants, load results, and administer the pool without touching code.
By the numbers
The app is in active production with real users.
View live app ↗