Talk:Goal difference

message: Perhaps a discussion of why goal difference was adopted in many competitions in lieu of goal average is in order for this entry?
Leviramsey 02:39, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Why goal difference was adopted

message: As we all know, arithmetic does not allow division by zero.  So what gives?  How would goal average rank
* a team that scored 0 goals and conceded 0 goals 
* a team that scored 1 goal and conceded 0 goals
* a team that scored 100 goals and conceded 1 goal?  22:45, 28 July 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I've tried in vain to find references for goal average and division by zero.  And it's not a completely academic topic.  It happened to Brazil in the first round of the 1958 World Cup, and also to England in the first round of the 1966 World Cup.  In both cases, the places were settled by points and there was no need to consider goal average, and the tables show the goal averages as "infinity" -- although this is not mathematically correct.  The obvious solution, at least to me, would be to add one to both goals scored and goals conceded before performing the division.  In other words, instead of GF / GA, the equation is (GF + 1) / (GA + 1).  This would remove the division by zero problem, but I can't find any sources that this, or any other solution, was ever considered.  Grover cleveland (talk) 21:20, 4 September 2010 (UTC)
replies: text:  The second tiebreaker is used: Goals For. In your example, the team which scored 100 goals would be the winner. Osvaldo190.19.40.144 (talk) 21:15, 11 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Suppose team A scores 0 goals and concedes 0 goals.  Team B scores 10 goals and concedes 1 goal.  Team A wins, right? Grover cleveland (talk) 21:33, 12 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  I remember: 1st step, If GA not = 0 and GF not = 0, then GF / GA; if GA not = 0 and GF = 0, then 1 / GA; if GA = 0 and GF not = 0, then GF; if GA = 0 and GF = 0, then 1. 2nd step, more GF. 3rd step, less GA. (Other people remember: 2nd. step: GF - GA).
In your example:
Team A: GA = GF = 0, then 1.
Team B: 10 / 1 = 10. 
As 10 > 1, team B would be the winner.   
Osvaldo190.19.40.144 (talk) 01:47, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks Osvaldo -- do you have a source for this?  Grover cleveland (talk) 04:30, 16 January 2012 (UTC)
replies: text:  I remember Grover. I would like to find the complete regulations of World Cup 1962 and/or 1966. Please, note that in a league of 30 or most rounds is almost impossible to avoid no goals. Then, I remember that the rules had to be adapted for 3 rounds. Please, if you find them, don't forget me. Osvaldo190.19.40.144 (talk) 18:40, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

text: A mathemastical division with nil in the denominator is forbidden. But assume that You have a 1 foot long plank. How many pieces do You get if You attempt to split it up in parts without any length ? Infinitely many ! Hence goals scored and  conceded 1:0 is better than 500:1. This was how the rule worked. However 2:0 was better than 1:0. Boeing720 (talk) 16:46, 16 March 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: No, it's not forbidden ('forbidden' means it's possible but against some rules), it's impossible - it's impossible to split something amongst up no people, and impossible to split a plank into parts with no length. You don't get infinitely many. Mmitchell10 (talk) 20:17, 14 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: What happens to goal average if zero goals are conceded?

message: It doesn't seem right that this is an article about Goal Difference, the section is headed "Titles Decided on Goal Difference", then details have been given about a load of years when goal average was used, and not even comprehensively either. I have corrected this, mostly.
Gusssss (talk) 02:22, 22 June 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: It's easy to know what you are against, but quite another to know what you are for. Dr. Vicodine (talk) 21:20, 29 August 2012 (UTC)

text: I've gone ahead and added those myself.  Scolaire (talk) 13:52, 13 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Titles Decided on Goal Average

message: The last column in each table in the article lists "Points", but I don't see anything that indicates how this value is calculated. Could someone please clarify its derivation? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Whorvath (talk • contribs) 15:47, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Points are calculated from the number of wins, draws and losses. Typically a team gets 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss, although most countries / competitions previously used 2 points for a win. Goal difference only applies if a team is level on points, as a tiebreaker. Jmorrison230582 (talk) 16:00, 1 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  How are points calculated? 

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