Goal difference

Heading into the final day of the 2006–07 Eredivisie season, three teams were still in contention to win the title, and with it a guaranteed place in the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League.

PSV, looking to win their third straight league title, was the only one of the three to play its final match at home, against Vitesse Arnhem.

AZ had a chance to take the lead after its numerical disadvantage was leveled as Excelsior's Rene van Dieren was sent off for yellow card accumulation.

AZ never took advantage and a goal from Johan Voskamp in the 90th minute gave Excelsior a shock 3–2 win.

But in the 77th minute, Philip Cocu put PSV up 5–1 and the team was up on goal difference (+50 to Ajax's +49).

The scores stayed that way at full time, and so PSV won the 2006–07 Eredivisie in one of the most exciting finishes to a season in recent memory.

The 2010 Úrvalsdeild season concluded on September 25, 2010, and three teams were still in contention to win the league title.

Leading the table was Breiðablik, based in Kópavogur, who knew that a win would give them their first ever league title.

In third place was two-time defending champions FH, looking to win the league title, but trailing Breiðablik by only two points.

Meanwhile, a draw opened the door for FH as they traveled to Reykjavík to face Fram needing to overturn an 11-goal difference.

The final matches were relegation threatened Queens Park Rangers at home for City, and Sunderland away for United.

[13] A Manchester City win would guarantee the title due to a realistically unassailable superior goal difference.

[14] Arsenal won the league championship on goals-scored, after finishing level on points and goal difference with Liverpool in the 1988–89 season.

in 1996–97 Wigan Athletic and Fulham finished level on 87 points at the top of the Third Division, but Wigan Athletic were awarded the championship on most goals scored, which was the first tie breaker in use in the Football League between 1992 and 1999, although Fulham had the greater goal difference.

In 1986, Hearts lost 2–0 at Dundee on the final day of the season, which allowed Celtic to win the league championship on goal difference.

In the 1952–53 Football League Championship, Arsenal and Preston North End both finished on 54 points.

The Portsmouth game had kicked off fifteen minutes later than City's, towards the end of the match they were winning 4-1 and knew that another goal would see them promoted which they duly scored.

It is noted that had the current Goal Difference rules applied at this time, City would have been promoted.

Rangers drew their last match of the 1952–53 season, against Queen of the South, 1–1, to finish level with Hibernian on 43 points.

[15] Red Star Belgrade won the 1951 Yugoslav First League championship ahead of Dinamo Zagreb with a 0.013 better goal average.

Dinamo's final match against BSK Belgrade ended in a 2–2 draw, and the following day Red Star defeated Partizan 2–0, meaning that both teams finished on 35 points.

[17][18] In the 1957–58 Yugoslav First League championship, RNK Split and Budućnost finished the season leveled on points and goal average.