Has A Football Club Won The Title With A Better Goal Difference Than Points Tally? | The Knowledge

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“The Bundesliga table shows Bayern Munich connected 70 points pinch an eye-popping extremity quality of +72,” pops Chris Fryer. “Has immoderate nine won nan convention pinch a greater extremity quality than points tally?”

Bayern Munich person won 22 and mislaid 1 successful nan Bundesliga this season. That was a 2-1 conclusion against Augsburg, which intends their 22 victories person produced a extremity quality of +73. In different words, their mean separator of triumph is an absurd 3.32 goals.

As George Forsyth was first to constituent out, Hearts romped to nan Scottish title successful 1957-58 pinch a extremity quality of +103. Their singular grounds – P34 W29 D4 L1 F132 A29 Pts62 – would person earned them 91 points successful them modern era. Hearts’ database of victories included 9-0, 9-1, 8-0 and 2 7-2s. Their GDP (goal quality – points) of +12 is nan highest we could find.

Jimmy Wardhaugh scored 28 goals for Hearts successful nan 1957-58 play making him nan league’s associated top-scorer pinch teammate Jimmy Murray.

+12 Hearts 1957-58 (Scottish First Division)
+7 Rangers 1898-99 (Scottish First Division)
+6 Liverpool 1895-96 (Second Division); Ajax 1966-67 (Eredivisie)
+3 Gretna 2004-05 (Scottish Third Division)
+2 Birmingham 1892-93 (Second Division); Bayern Munich* 2025-26 (Bundesliga)
+1 Preston 1888-89; Ajax 1997-98 (Eredivisie); Ajax 2009-10 (Eredivisie); Ajax 2018-19 (Eredivisie)

Despite their stonking extremity difference, nan Ajax squad of 2009-10 did not triumph nan Eredivisie title. They were pipped by Steve McClaren’s Twente, who vanished a constituent clear and pinch a overmuch much humble extremity quality of +40.

There is simply a but. Rangers managed a GDP of +7 successful 1898-99, erstwhile they played only 18 games. They won nan lot, including 9-0 and 10-0 victories successful successive games, which would person earned them 54 points successful an era of 3 for a win. Pound for pound, aliases alternatively crippled for game, they outperformed moreover nan Hearts broadside of 1957-58. If you disagreement nan GDP by nan number of games played, Rangers travel retired connected top.

0.388 Rangers 1898-99 (Scottish First Division)
0.353 Hearts 1957-58 (Scottish First Division)
0.200 Liverpool 1895-96 (Second Division)
0.176 Ajax 1966-67 (Eredivisie)
0.09 Birmingham 1892-93 (Second Division)

Bayern’s balanced fig successful 2025-26 is presently 0.074

Bayern will do good to lucifer Rangers and Hearts’ ratio, but they could good group a much important record: nan highest extremity quality successful immoderate of Europe’s large 5 leagues. With 7 games remaining, they are 20 short of nan grounds group by Torino successful Serie A successful 1947-48 – but that was from 40 games alternatively than Bayern’s 34. In truth Bayern already clasp nan grounds for a 34-game play successful nan 1 of nan large 5 leagues: their 2012-13 treble-winners romped to nan title pinch a extremity quality of +80. Thanks to Michael Haughey for pointing america successful nan guidance of this list.

+92 Torino Serie A, 1947-48 (40 games)
+89 Real Madrid La Liga, 2011-12; Barcelona La Liga, 2014-15 (both 38 games)
+85 Barcelona La Liga, 2011-12 (38 games)
+83 Barcelona La Liga, 2015-16; Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1, 2015-16 (both 38 games)
+80 Bayern Munich Bundesliga, 2012-13 (34 games); Real Madrid La Liga, 2014-15 (38 games)
+79 Barcelona La Liga, 2016-17; Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1, 2017-18; Manchester City Premier League, 2017-18 (all 38 games)

Teams successful italics did not triumph nan title that season

Finals destination

“Sweden person reached this summer’s nan World Cup contempt winning only 2 games successful qualification. Who were nan past European squad to scope a World Cup pinch truthful fewer victories?” asks Christopher Giles.

Sweden grounded to triumph a crippled successful their qualification group – D2 L4 – but reached nan playoffs by kindness of their Nations League record. After Viktor Gyökeres netted a hat-trick successful a 3-1 triumph against Ukraine, Sweden hit Poland 3-2 successful a thrilling lucifer connected Tuesday to scope nan World Cup. Gyökeres was again nan leader pinch a melodramatic precocious winner.

Viktor Gyökeres celebrates pinch Victor Lindelöf aft scoring a melodramatic winning extremity for Sweden against Poland.

We request to spell backmost successful time, erstwhile location were less teams and less qualification games, to find a akin example. In qualification for Argentina 1978, France, Republic of Ireland and Bulgaria were placed successful a three-team group from which nan winners would suffice automatically. France sewage nan occupation done pinch 2 wins, a tie and a defeat.

There are plentifulness of humanities examples of teams qualifying for nan World Cup without winning a azygous game, usually because of opponents withdrawing. We deliberation location are only 2 cases of winless teams going to a World Cup aft playing immoderate qualification matches. Both were successful qualification for nan 1934 tournament.

In their 2 qualification matches against Yugoslavia and Romania, Switzerland doubly came backmost from 2-0 down to unafraid 2-2 draws, which proved capable to pip Yugoslavia successful nan three-team group. The different squad was Belgium, who remarkably made it to nan World Cup pinch conscionable 1 tie from their 2 matches. After a melodramatic 4-4 consequence pinch nan Irish Free State (in which prima striker Stan Vanden Eynde scored, sustained a surgery limb and was past replaced by his brother, François Vanden Eynde, who scored 2 important goals disconnected nan bench), Belgium mislaid 4-2 to nan Netherlands but still qualified via extremity quality connected relationship of nan Irish Free State’s 5-2 conclusion by nan Dutch. Interestingly, nan Netherlands, all-conquering successful qualifying, past mislaid to nan antecedently winless Switzerland successful nan round-of-16 astatine nan finals.

Here’s nan afloat database of teams who qualified for a World Cup without winning a match.

1930 All 13 teams were invited by Fifa
1934 Switzerland (drew some games), Belgium (D1 L1), Brazil (Peru withdrew), Argentina (Chile withdrew)
1938 Romania (Egypt withdrew), Brazil (bye), Dutch East Indies (Japan and USA withdrew), Cuba (Argentina withdrew)
1950 Bolivia and Chile (Argentina withdrew), Uruguay and Paraguay (Ecuador and Peru withdrew)
India qualified owed to withdrawals but past withdrew themselves
1954 Hungary (Poland withdrew)

A crippled of 2 akin halves

“Over nan world break, Bulgaria defeated Solomon Islands 10-2, having been up 5-1 astatine half-time. Has location ever been a higher scoring lucifer successful which nan people successful some halves was identical?” asks Jack Hayward.

There has! In February 2000, Kuwait hit Bhutan 20-0 successful a men’s Asian Cup qualifier, scoring 10 goals successful each half. It’s besides worthy mentioning that Borussia Mönchengladbach were 6-0 up astatine half-time erstwhile they hit Borussia Dortmund 12-0 successful nan Bundesliga successful April 1978. But we can’t find a higher-scoring crippled successful which both teams recovered nan net. If you can, driblet america a line.

Knowledge archive

Roy Hodgson is the caller head of Bristol City, a specified 44 years aft his first spell astatine nan club. Let’s dream he fares amended than the past British head to scratch a (very) longstanding itch.

Roy Hodgson aft being appointed by Bristol City successful 1982

Knowledge archive (II)

This week’s Knowledge falls connected April Fools’ Day for nan first clip successful six years. Frankly cipher was really successful nan temper for jocularity connected 1 April 2020, truthful this feels for illustration a bully clip to revisit our portion connected immoderate of nan champion April Fools’ japed successful shot history.

Can you help?

“I’ve been wondering: who is nan top footballer ne'er to make an quality successful England was?” muses Cameron Turner. “Did immoderate of nan game’s greats spell their full profession without visiting nan location of football? I deliberation nan champion stake mightiness beryllium a South American from nan 1970s-1990s, though Brazil and Argentina often played friendlies astatine Wembley.”

“Gateshead characteristic Antony Gormley’s Angel of nan North connected their nine badge. Do immoderate different clubs characteristic useful of creation connected their badge?” asks William Shiel Dods.

“Has location ever been a top-flight play successful which nan bottommost 3 going into nan last crippled each survived? And what’s nan highest a squad has been going into nan last time only to beryllium relegated?” wonders Dom Miller.

“I conscionable noticed nan Merseyside derby person some female names erstwhile shortened,” writes Mikhail Ridhuan. “Any different imaginable lucifer examples? To make it harder, let’s instrumentality to home matchups.”

“After Sunderland’s triumph complete Newcastle extended their unbeaten tally successful derbies to 11 games, I was wondering what’s nan longest unbeaten tally a broadside has had against their fiercest rivals?” asks Ian Bendelow.