A curious league table
– a brief observation
This league table would break the heart of any Scot. It is the table of Group 2 of the 1974 FIFA World Cup. The top two teams, shown on a green background, advanced to the next round. Scotland failed to advance despite not losing any matches: the only team ever to do so.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Yugoslavia
|
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | +9 | 4 |
 Brazil |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 4 |
 Scotland |
3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 4 |
 Zaire |
3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | −14 | 0 |
The mathematical interest in this league table, however, is that it is possible to work out, from the league table alone, the exact scores of all six matches in the group. Try it yourself! It isn’t hard.