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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Competitions & Results

Goal difference

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

nounCommon term

In football (soccer), goal difference means: The number of goals a team has scored minus the number it has conceded, used to separate teams that are level on points in a league table.

In Turkish: averaj, gol farkı

How it is used

Teams are separated on goal difference or win the league on goal difference. Tables show it as GD, with a plus or minus sign. Some competitions look at head-to-head results before goal difference, so always check the rules.

Example sentences

  1. We're level on points, but they're ahead on goal difference.

  2. A 4-0 win would do our goal difference a lot of good.

Common collocations

  • on goal difference
  • superior goal difference
  • a goal difference of plus ten
  • head-to-head record
  • tableThe list that ranks the teams in a league by points, with goal difference and other figures; also called the league table or standings.
  • leagueA competition in which teams play each other over a season, usually home and away, and are ranked in a table by points.
  • relegationDropping down to a lower division at the end of the season after finishing in one of the bottom places of the league.
  • promotionMoving up to a higher division at the end of the season by finishing in one of the top places or by winning a play-off.

More terms: Competitions & Results

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