How football league tables work

A league table looks simple, but every column and every colour tells you something. This guide explains how points are won, how teams level on points are separated and what the coloured positions mean.

Three points for a win

In almost every league in the world a win is worth three points, a draw one point and a defeat nothing. The three-point win was introduced in England in 1981 and adopted by FIFA for the 1994 World Cup, to reward teams that try to win rather than settle for a draw.

Over a season every team plays every other team twice, once at home and once away. In a 20-team league such as the Premier League, La Liga or Serie A that makes 38 matches; in an 18-team league such as the Bundesliga or Ligue 1 it makes 34.

The columns

P (or MP) is the number of matches played. W, D and L are wins, draws and losses. GF and GA are goals scored ("for") and conceded ("against"), and GD is the goal difference, goals scored minus goals conceded. Pts is the total number of points.

Form shows the result of the last five matches, usually as W, D and L from the oldest to the most recent. It is the quickest way to see whether a team is improving or struggling, whatever its position.

When teams are level on points

Leagues do not all break ties the same way. The Premier League looks first at goal difference, then at goals scored. La Liga and Serie A look first at the head-to-head results between the teams concerned, and only then at overall goal difference. That is why two teams with the same points and goal difference can be ordered differently from one league to another.

If teams are still level after every tie-breaker, some competitions use fair play points (fewer yellow and red cards ranks higher) or, for a title or relegation decided on the last day, a play-off match.

What the colours mean

On Scorefoot the rank number of each team is coloured according to what that position gives at the end of the season. Blue is a place in the UEFA Champions League, orange the Europa League and green the Conference League or promotion. Purple marks a play-off, for example the Bundesliga relegation play-off or a promotion play-off, and red marks relegation to the division below.

These places are not fixed forever. The number of European places depends on how well clubs from each country have done in Europe in recent seasons, and a cup winner can take a European place that would otherwise go down the table.

Reading a table during the season

Early in the season a table can be misleading because teams have not played each other yet and some have played one match more than others. Compare points per match, look at the form column and check the next fixtures before drawing conclusions.

During matches the table on Scorefoot changes live, so you can see where each team would finish if the current scores stayed the same.

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