The Top 10 Most Assists in Football History
Cristiano Ronaldo is the leading goal scorer in football, including international football, and one of only three players to score more than one hundred goals for their country. But who is the best playmaker, the player with the most assists in football history? If you think you know who tops the list and fancy a little wager on your footballing knowledge then head over to our top football betting list or if you want to go head to head then our boxing betting sites section is more for you.
Association Football is about goals. Goals define the sport. But for any striker or forward to score, they need playmakers in support, midfield maestros who can pull the strings, or wingers who cross the ball into the attacking areas. With every goal comes a provider, the player who provides the assist.
Lionel Messi has played 187 senior matches for Argentina. He is the greatest. The Argentina captain has 109 goals and 58 assists. Messi played five games at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, scoring twice, and providing three assists as the South Americans claimed gold. He netted 474 goals and 216 assists in 520 La Liga matches, 82 more assists than the next best. He bagged 129 goals and 45 assists in 129 games in the UEFA Champions League while playing in Europe.
Image for Lionel Messi Celebrating//Getty
Messi’s international club tournament record is incredible. He scored 149 goals and provided 52 assists in 182 games. In 596 league matches, he has 509 goals and 258 assists in La Liga, Ligue 1, and Major League Soccer (MLS). When you add Messi’s Olympic Games record of two goals and three assists to his tally, he has 415 goals and 316 assists in his entire career.
Messi is simply the best assist provider in football history. SportBoom.com compiled the most up-to-date list of players with the most assists in football history. The list includes the 2024 UEFA European Championship (EUROS) and Copa América during the European and South American domestic off-seasons. These statistics include only senior club and country assists, including the Olympic Games. Junior and age group assists are not counted.
The Criteria for an Assist in Football
The criteria for football assists vary and are awarded (or not) depending on the data analytics company employed by a country or football federation. An assist is credited to a player for passing, crossing, or deliberately deflecting the ball to the goal scorer. Assists may be awarded to a footballer whose shot rebounds off a defender, the goalkeeper or goalpost to a teammate who scores.
Some analytical companies credit an assist to a player who wins a penalty kick or a free kick for another player to convert or to an attacking player for contributing to an own goal. A goal may be unassisted or have one assist. Some data systems allow for two assists. Goal contributions do not count as assists. However, goal contribution stats have become popular. They add context to creative data analytics and statistics for goal involvements.
Image for Cristiano Ronaldo Celebrating with Angel di Maria//Getty
Opta Criteria for Assists in the English Premier League
Opta is a British sports analytics company. They are the official provider of English Premier League statistics. Opta defines an assist as “The final touch from a teammate, which leads to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal.” If an opposition player deflects a pass, it must be assumed the ball is travelling in the direction of the goalscorer regardless of the deflection.
Opta notes that an own goal, a goal from a direct free kick, a direct corner, or an assist will not be awarded. The applies to penalties - unless the penalty taker passes the ball to teammate to score. Johan Cruyff passed to Jesper Olsen in December 1982. Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez recreated Cruyff and Olsen’s iconic penalty for Barcelona against Celta Vigo in February 2016.
Image for Luis Suarez celebrating with Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez//Getty
FAQs
Thomas Müller provided 20 assists for Bayern Munich during the 2019/20 Bundesliga season.
Ryan Giggs has the most assists in English Premier League history. Giggs provided 163 assists in 632 matches for Manchester United.
Frank Lampard has the most assists by an Englishman in a Premier League campaign. Lampard provided 114 assists in 611 PL games for three clubs.
Thierry Henry and Kevin de Bruyne share the most assists in a Premier League season. Henry and De Bruyne assisted 20 goals in 2002/03 and 2019/20, respectively.
Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.