Messi overtakes Pelé as the all-time World Cup assist leader

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·12 Juli 2026

Messi overtakes Pelé as the all-time World Cup assist leader

Lionel Messi continues to rewrite World Cup and football history. In the quarter-final against Switzerland, the Argentine star overtook Pelé to become the outright all-time leader for assists in the competition.

The milestone came from the corner that led to Alexis Mac Allister's opener, the first goal of the match. It was Messi's second assist at the 2026 World Cup and the 10th of his career in the finals, spread across six editions.

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The Argentina international, who is already the all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup history, became the first player to reach 10 assists, moving beyond Pelé's nine. In the match against Egypt, when he set up Cristián Romero, Messi had already gone past Diego Maradona, who had eight assists, and matched the former Brazil international.

Matches his 2022 tally

Messi has also now matched the number of direct goal involvements he recorded at the World Cup in 2022.

The 2022 edition was defined by Lionel Messi's crowning moment, as he led Argentina to the world title with memorable displays. Four years on, at 39, the Albiceleste captain is still raising the bar and is already posting numbers better than those he managed in Qatar.

At the 2022 World Cup, Messi finished with seven goals and three assists in seven matches, for a total of 10 direct goal involvements. Now, after six games at the 2026 World Cup, he has eight goals and two assists, matching that return with one fewer match played.

The figures could be even more impressive, as the Argentine missed penalties in the matches against Austria and Egypt.

In addition to being the greatest assist provider in World Cup history, Lionel Messi is also the competition's all-time top scorer, with 21 goals across six editions.

The Argentine moved to the top of the World Cup scoring charts in this tournament, overtaking legends such as Pelé, Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose.