Nine draws cost the 2018 group stage nine points

How much did draws shrink the points on offer? Each row is one of the 48 group matches at the 2018 World Cup. A win pays three points to one side; a draw pays one to each, two in all. So every draw removes a point from the pool, and the groups that drew most had the least to divide.

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Group B drew three times; three groups never drew

Each cell counts a group's matches by result. 9 of the 48 matches were drawn, 18.75% of the group stage. Group B, with Portugal, Spain, Iran, and Morocco, drew three of its six, starting with Portugal 3-3 Spain. Groups A, F, and G produced a winner every time.

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The points pool: 135 of a possible 144

Each bar is the points a group handed out over its six matches, with the full eighteen marked. Six decisive matches would pay 144 points across the stage; the nine draws cut the total awarded to 135. Group B's teams shared 15 points, three fewer than Groups A, F, and G, which paid the full 18 each.

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The draws were not dull ones

Each box holds the goals in one result type. Draws averaged 2.89 goals a match, more than the decisive matches at 2.46. Only one draw was goalless, Denmark 0-0 France on the last matchday, and four others finished 2-2 or 3-3.

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Takeaway

Nine draws took nine points out of the group stage, and they fell unevenly: Group B lost three, three groups lost none. A group's points total is partly a record of how often its matches ended level, before it says anything about how strong its teams were.

Limits

One tournament's group stage, under the three-one-zero points rule. Points awarded is arithmetic on the result, not the official table, which also applies tie-breaks. Nothing here says why a match ended level.