Lionel Messi becomes World Cup’s all-time assist leader | OneFootball

Lionel Messi has become the World Cup’s all-time leading assist provider after providing an assist in Argentina’s 3-1 extra-time quarter-final win over Switzerland.

The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner did not score, but his pass to Alexis Mac Allister for the Albiceleste’s opener was his 10th in World Cups.

That takes him past Fritz Walter, who won 61 caps for West Germany between 1940 and 1958. The Kaiserslautern player delivered nine World Cup assists.

Every one of Messi’s World Cup assists has gone to a different team-mate. The first was for Hernan Crespo in 2006, with others including Angel Di Maria in 2014, Sergio Agüero against France in 2018, Enzo Fernandez in 2022 and Cristian Romero in 2026.

Messi produced three assists in 2022, his best single-tournament return until now. He has two so far in 2026, and Argentina still have two games to play, on Wednesday at 21:00 against England, then either the final or the third-place play-off.

Source: L'Équipe