The episode opens with the Kadic Football Team practicing for a large upcoming match, Ulrich is playing striker and is easily overwhelming the goalkeeper, Jim congratulates Ulrich and tells him to rest up for the match. Ulrich then meets up with Odd and Jeremie who were watching practice and Odd makes a teasing quote stating that he couldn't wait to see Sissi's cheerleeding routine at the match that afternoon. The scene changes to Sissi who is practicing her routine spinning her baton wildly and as she throws it into the air, she cheers and hold out her hand to catch it however she watches in amazement as the baton just continues to rise until its out of sight. At the same time Yumi is walking down the school path when the street lamps suddenly begin to flicker and Yumi is suddenly lifted a few feet off the ground before being dropped back down, she stares at the lamps and when the flicker again she runs. In the courtyard, Sissi is having a fit over her baton which causes Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie to become suspicious. In the lunchroom, Yumi barges in and tells the group that they needed to talk.
In Jeremy's room, Aelita confirms their suspicions by telling them she spotted an activated tower in the Mountains, Jeremie then explains that XANA is trying to manipulate the magnetic fields around the school using electricity which would cause a break in gravity within a small area. Yumi then states that they had to go to Lyoko before XANA did anything extreme however Ulrich states that he is going to the football match, when Jeremie angrily opposes this Ulrich storms out while Yumi and Odd explain to Jeremie that Ulrich's parents are coming to the match and as Ulrich's father was a very stern man and Ulrich's grades were bad, the only way Ulrich could please him was winning at football. Odd, Yumi and Jeremie then head to the factory while Ulrich goes to the changing rooms where he and the rest of the team listen to Jim's pregame speech.
The match begins with Milly and Tamiya recording the event for the Kadic News and the teams walking on the pitch for kickoff. At the same time the others arrive at the factory, Jeremie discovers that XANA is trying to take over the city's power grid and launches a spy program to track XANA's movements. Ulrich meanwhile manages to score a quick goal. Jeremie virtualizes Odd and Yumi into the mountains and together with Aelita and they began to make their way to the activated Tower. Jeremy then discovers what XANA is planning, he is trying to converge all of the electricity on the school causing an enormous Zero Gravity Zone and if it hadn't been for Sissi's baton and Yumi's flight, they would have all been at the match and XANA would have had them all in his trap. Jeremy then immediately tries to contact Ulrich however, he cannot pick up because of the game. Jeremy then decides to try and beat XANA at his own game by hacking into the network to stop him. As Odd, Yumi and Aelita continue to make their way to the Tower, Jeremy manages to develop a program to counter any attacks on the science building. During breaktime, Jeremy manages to contact Ulrich and tells him to check if everyone is out of the school as XANA would try to use the power from the science lab generator. Ulrich runs down the stands and see's everyone there except Mrs Hertz, who is in the chemistry lab. Jeremy then begs Ulrich to abandon the game and save her, stating that it could make the difference between life and death.
Ulrich manages to leave the game by faking an injury and makes his way to the science building however he doesn't realize that he is being followed by Sissi. On Lyoko, the group have made it to the Tower which is being guarded by a swamp of three Hornets. Odd and Yumi manage to destroy two of them but are both knocked down by the third, Jeremie then announces that an huge back up swamp was on the way. Odd and Yumi decide to go for a diversion tactic, Odd fired arrows constantly while Yumi used her Telekinesis on several boulders to form a revolving shield around them. Ulrich meanwhile enters the Science building and after a few steps, he and Mrs Hertz are flung to the ceiling by XANA's anti gravity force. Ulrich then tries to climb his way through the building to reach Mrs Hertz in the chemistry lab. On Lyoko, things began to get worse as more Hornets show up, forcing Yumi to add further boulders to the shield which begins to exhaust her. Ulrich and manages to find Mrs Hertz unconscious and tells Jeremy to run his counter program which just manages to take effect as Sissi enters the building. Ulrich tries to carry Mrs Hertz out of the building however as he makes his way down the hall XANA gains control again and he is flung onto the side of of a wardrobe. He secures Mrs Hertz on the wardrobe and manages to grab Sissi by the arm, Jeremie then manages to regain control and causes the lights in the science building to shatter to prevent XANA controlling that area.
On Lyoko, things move from bad to worse as Odd is nearly out of arrows, Yumi can barely hold the boulder shield anymore and more. But more Hornets continue to materialized into Lyoko. Meanwhile, Ulrich and Sissi try to carry Mrs Hertz out of the building, Jeremy informs them that XANA has taken over 50 power stations and urges them not to leave the building however, the stadium lights begin to flicker and all the people on the football pitch and in the stand suddenly began to fly up into the sky. On Lyoko, Yumi has finally exhausted all of her power and collapses and as the Hornets closes in, Aelita uses her creativity, Petrification, to make a bridge to the tower. The Hornets then turn and began to fire at her, as Odd and Yumi watch in horror but she continues to take hit after hit. At the school, Ulrich dives out of the window and grabs onto the stadium to stop himself being carried into the sky, he manages to make his way across the stands and grab onto his parents before they flew off. On Lyoko, Aelita continues to take hits from the Hornets when one shot catches her in the back and Odd and Yumi watch her as she falls off her bridge into the void below, followed by the Hornets who continued to shoot at her. Odd and Yumi were shocked at what had happened when Aelita suddenly appears at their shoulders revealing that she had made a decoy to lure the Hornets away. Aelita then runs into the tower and goes to the upper platform and enters the Code, Lyoko just as Ulrich looses grip on his parents. Jeremie quickly launches a Time Reversion and manages to save everyone who flew off from the stadium.
The Football match has just started and Odd, Yumi and Jeremy cheered Ulrich on. And as he plays, Odd was stating that he was Champion of the world and Jeremie asks which one. Odd replies "Why both of them, Jeremie, Both of them!" Then, the episode ends.
This episode contain examples of:
- Anything but That!: Ulrich begs Jeremie of this when he doesn't want to save Mrs. Hertz in favor of winning the match for his father's pride. He ends up going back to save her because it's the right thing to do.
- Decoy Getaway: First - but far from last - time Aelita uses this trick.
- Left Hanging: We don't get to know the winner of the Lincoln Junior High/Diderot Junior High vs. Kadic Junior High School soccer match, since the Return to the Past happened.
- Manly Tears: Ulrich sobs for a bit, conflicted between staying at the match to win for his parent's pride or to save Mrs. Hertz, standing on the field frozen.
- Metaphorgotten: Jim gets a bit swept up in the synonyms for "beat the other team" that he doesn't notice Ulrich going off to Jeremie and Odd.Jim: We're going to pulverize them. Massacre 'em. We're going to make mince-meat out of them. We're going to gobble 'em up and spit 'em out, maybe.
- Mr. Fanservice: Tamiya thinks Ulrich is cute, and while he's running zooms in on his running rump. Milly, being clearly annoyed by this, chastises her for her "helpful commentary"
- Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: As Odd and Yumi hold off the swarm of Hornets, it gets progressively worse as more of the Mooks appear, Yumi collapsing from exhaustion from her telekinesis and Odd running low on arrows. Finally, Aelita seems to make a very foolish move, and try to cross the bridge too soon by creating a bypass around it. Naturally, the Hornets swarm at her and open fire until, eventually, she appears to plummet into the abyss below. For a few seconds, Odd and Yumi start to cry, thinking she's dead — until they hear her voice say, "As soon as you're finished crying, just let me know." Clearly, she had created an illusory clone of her self to fool them; Jeremie's response is, "Aelita, you are the greatest!"
- Pelvic Thrust: One of the students in the stadium stands is doing this when celebrating one of Ulrich's goals in the match.
- Shout-Out: Yumi's brief flight when she's lifted a few inches off the ground via the small Zero Gravity Field, is similar to a scene in the early seasons of Smallville where Clark Kent after having a dream of flying is shown a few feet above his bed as he's waking up, with both Yumi and Clark having similar surprise reactions before dropping down to the ground. Unlike Yumi's flight (who lacks superpowers in the real world and can only gain such powers via going to Lyoko), Clark's flight is the prelude to him becoming Superman.
- So Proud of You: Ulrich's father's last words to him. However, it is the only nice thing he ever says to his son.
- Twinkle in the Sky: Happens to Sissi's baton as it floats away into the sky, heading for outer space never to be seen again.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Ulrich's motivations for playing football seem self-centered, until Odd tells Jeremie that he and his father don't talk much, and his parents are coming to the football match, and Ulrich wants to impress them to get his father's approval.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Ulrich pulls this on the whole team in front of his parents to save Mrs. Hertz.
