Data Dump: NFL vs. Big 5 Scoring

When asked in a podcast interview last September which soccer rule he'd change if given the opportunity, U.S. men's national team and A.C. Milan standout Christian Pulisic said he'd assign each goal scored seven points. So your 2-1 game would actually be scored 14-7, your 3-2 game would be 21-14, and on and on.

Pulisic's suggestion, of course, was connected to the scoring rules in American football and the common complaint that soccer is too low-scoring compared to that sport. 

But Pulisic has a point: The two sports aren't too far apart if you assign one point per touchdown in football to match the one point per goal in soccer.

Below is a table comparing the highest-scoring teams, the median-scoring teams, and the lowest-scoring teams using the scoring system of each touchdown and goal scored counting as one point:

 

On average, the NFL still outscored the EPL, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A, and La Liga during the leagues' respective 2023 seasons. 

But Pulisic's overall point stands, even if his rule change shouldn't be adopted.