In sports such as ice hockey and association football, goal difference (that is, goals scored minus goals conceded) is often the first tiebreaker used to rank teams which finish a league competition with an equal number of points. In games with more complex scoring, such as rugby union or basketball, the term point difference may be used instead (total points scored minus total points conceded).
If a team's points and goal difference are equal, then often goals scored is used as a second tiebreaker, with the team scoring the most goals winning. Alternative tiebreakers that may be used include looking at the head-to-head results between sides, playing a playoff, or the drawing of lots.
Goal average is a different scheme that predated goal difference. Using the goal average scheme the number of goals scored is divided by the number of goals conceded. Goal difference replaced goal average in the 1970 World Cup finals and from 1976–77 season in the English Football League. Goal average is also used as the tiebreaker in Australian rules football where it is referred to as "percentage". It is calculated as points scored for divided by points scored against multiplied by 100.
Read more about Goal Difference: Goal Difference v. Goal Average
Famous quotes containing the words goal and/or difference:
“To enumerate the different trades by which the women in New York are endeavoring—not to live—that for many of them is as utterly unattainable a goal as the end of the rainbow—but simply to postpone as long as possible their appearance at the morgue or the cemetery—to attempt to do this would be useless.”
—Katharine Pearson Woods (1853–1923)
“Friends serve central functions for children that parents do not, and they play a critical role in shaping children’s social skills and their sense of identity. . . . The difference between a child with close friendships and a child who wants to make friends but is unable to can be the difference between a child who is happy and a child who is distressed in one large area of life.”
—Zick Rubin (20th century)