Group Tournament Ranking System - Points Calculation

Points Calculation

In 2-competitor games where ties are rare or impossible, competitors are typically ranked by number of wins, with ties counting half; each competitors' listings are usually ordered Wins-Losses(-Ties). In such games a games behind figure is sometimes included in listings for a tournament still in progress, to allow comparison of competitors who have not completed the same proportion of their allotted fixtures. Where draws are more common, this may be 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw, which is mathematically equivalent but avoids having too many half-points in the listings. These are usually ordered Wins-Draws-Losses. If there are more than 2 competitors per fixture, points may be ordinal—for example, 3 for first, 2 for second, 1 for third. Giving a half-point for a draw in chess was introduced in 1868 by the British Chess Association; previously, drawn games in chess tournaments were replayed.

Some games may have more complex ranking criteria. In rugby union, bonus points may be awarded for scoring a certain number of tries, usually 4, or for losing by a relatively small margin, usually losing by 7 points (the value of a converted try) or less.

In association football, where draws are relatively common, many leagues give 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw to encourage attacking play. Besides the traditional 2-1-0 points and newer 3-1-0 points systems for win-draw-loss, various other systems have been used to try to encourage attractive play. Some examples:

• 3-2-1 as in the Greek League 1959-73; or 4-2-1. Giving 1 point extra in each case for losing may be simply cosmetic, but does allow for awarding 0 points for forfeiting a match. (The FIFA standard is to count a forfeit as a 3-0 defeat.)
• The W-League in 2002 gave 4-1-0 with a bonus point for scoring three goals.
• The League of Ireland in 1981-82 had 4-3-2-1-0 points for away win — home win — away draw — home draw — loss
• In China in the 1970s and 80s, bonus points were for scoring headed goals, and for teams whose players were selected for the national squad.
• Bulgaria for three seasons 1984-7 gave no points for scoreless draws.
• France gave a bonus point for scoring 3 goals in 1973-6, but stopped after rumours this encouraged match fixing. However, Michel Hidalgo has reported to the French Football Federation similar proposals to encourage attacking play.

Some leagues have used penalty shootouts after drawn games, in which case points will vary for regulation win — penalties win — penalties loss — regulation loss:

• In the playoffs of the French women's league, 4-2-1-0.
• Yugoslav League had 2-1-0-0 from 1989-92
• Major League Soccer had 3-1-0-0 from 1996-9.
• The original Japan Football League had 3-3-1-0 in 1996
• In the North American Soccer League in 1975-84, 6-1-0-0, with a bonus point each for up to 3 goals scored
• In the Western Soccer League in 1989, 6-4-2-0, with a bonus point each for up to 3 goals scored

In FIBA (basketball)-sanctioned tournaments, where ties are impossible (a game goes into as many extra periods — or overtimes — as possible to determine a winner), the following method is used:

• Win (including by forfeit) = 2 points
• Loss = 1 point
• Loss by default (all players were ejected/disqualified) = 1 point
• Loss by forfeit (fails to show up for a scheduled game or withdraws from the court before the end of the game) = 0 points

For an example, see 2006 FIBA World Championship.

In the National Hockey League (and various other minor hockey leagues), where regular season games tied after three periods go into a five-minute sudden-death overtime period and then a shootout if needed, the following method is used:

• Win: 2 points

• Loss in regulation time: 0 points

• Loss in overtime or shootout: 1 point

Most European ice hockey leagues including KHL use an improvement to the NHL method that does not encourage regulation draws by awarding more combined points than regulation decisions. This system was also used at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the preliminary round-robin games:

• Win in regulation time: 3 points

• Win in overtime or shootout: 2 points

• Loss in regulation time: 0 points

• Loss in overtime or shootout: 1 point