GlossaryReading any table
How to read a league table
A league table ranks teams by points; the columns to its right show how those points were earned — games played, wins, draws, losses, goals for and against, and goal difference.
Teams are ordered top to bottom by total points (Pts). The standard columns are P (played), W/D/L (won, drawn, lost), GF and GA (goals for and against) and GD (goal difference). When two teams have the same points, a tie-breaker — usually goal difference — decides who ranks higher.
Worked example: A team with 10 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses has 34 points (10×3 + 4×1). If they've scored 30 and conceded 18, their goal difference is +12.
See it in the numbers
Open the spreadsheet and watch this appear in live scores and standings — disguised as work.
Related terms
How points work (3-1-0)
In most football leagues a win is worth 3 points, a draw 1 and a loss 0; the team with the most points at the end of the season wins the title.
Form (the W-D-L run)
Form is a team's recent results shown as a short string of letters — W for a win, D for a draw, L for a loss — usually the last five games, most recent last.
Head-to-head tie-breaker
A head-to-head tie-breaker settles level teams by looking only at the results of the matches they played against each other, rather than their overall records.
FT, HT, AET, ET, Pens
FT means full time (the match is over), HT half time, ET extra time, AET 'after extra time', and Pens a result decided on penalties.