GlossaryReading any table
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.
The three-points-for-a-win system rewards winning over drawing, which is why a team can finish above another with more wins but fewer draws. Other sports use different systems — many use pure win-loss records or bonus points — but the principle is the same: the table is ordered by an accumulated score.
See it in the numbers
Open the spreadsheet and watch this appear in live scores and standings — disguised as work.
Related terms
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.
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.