Who has the most assists at the World Cup? Now that Opta has this data back to the 1966 finals, we can list the players with the most assists in the competition since that edition.
Most Assists at the World Cup
12 – Lionel Messi (Argentina)
8 – Diego Maradona (Argentina)
7 – Pierre Littbarski (Germany), Grzegorz Lato (Poland), Michael Olise (France)
6 – Ivan Perisic (Croatia), David Beckham (England), Pelé (Brazil), Thomas Häßler (Germany), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Thomas Müller (Germany), Uwe Seeler (Germany), Francesco Totti (Italy), Kylian Mbappé (France)
5 – Antoine Griezmann (France), Zico (Brazil), Gerd Müller (Germany), Michael Ballack (Germany), Juan Sebastián Verón (Argentina), Juan Cuadrado (Colombia), Robert Gadocha (Poland)
*since 1966
Lionel Messi (12 Assists)
Lionel Messi has 12 assists at World Cup finals, more than anyone else, and his position at the top of this list is a mix of longevity and unquestionable ability at key moments. He has set up at least one goal in each of the six tournaments he has played at.
His first came in a 6-0 group-stage win over Serbia at the 2006 tournament, but that was the only assist he managed in that World Cup. He added just one more in 2010 (in the round-of-16 tie with Mexico) and then again in 2014 (also in the round of 16, this time against Switzerland). He got two assists in 2018, but both came in the dramatic 4-3 round-of-16 defeat to France.
He tallied three en route to glory in 2022. That year, he got one in the group stage against Mexico, one in the quarter-finals against the Netherlands and a particularly memorable one in the semi-final defeat of Croatia, when he ran from the halfway line, turned Josko Gvardiol inside-out and pulled the ball back for Julián Álvarez to put the icing on the cake of a 3-0 win to send Argentina to the final.
He rose to the top of this particular leaderboard with his cross for Cristian Romero against Egypt in the 2026 last 16, getting Argentina back in the contest after finding themselves 2-0 down. He then added to his lead with a corner in the quarter-finals against Switzerland, which was scored by Alexis Mac Allister.
Perhaps more important than any others, Messi assisted twice in the second half of the 2026 semi-final against England to help bring Argentina back from 1-0 down and send them to a second straight World Cup final.
Diego Maradona (8 Assists)
Diego Maradona, one of the main rivals to Messi for the title of the best footballer ever, now trails him at the top of this particular list.
However, unlike Messi, Maradona got the vast majority of his assists in a single tournament, including a fair few of them in one match.
After getting no assists in 1982, Maradona ran riot in Argentina’s opening game of the 1986 tournament. He set up all three goals in a 3-1 win over South Korea.
He added one more in the group game against Bulgaria, but then, while he scored braces in both the quarters and semi-final, he saved his next assist for the last moment, and it was one of the most important he could possibly get.
His pass late on in the final against West Germany put Jorge Burruchaga through on goal to make it 3-2 and win Argentina the World Cup.
The legendary Argentina number 10 would go on to add two more assists at the 1990 tournament and one more in 1994 to end his career on eight World Cup assists. He held at least a share of the record for 36 years.
Pierre Littbarski (7 Assists)
Midfielder Pierre Littbarski played a fundamental role in West Germany’s run to the final of the 1982 World Cup, tallying five assists en route.
His haul included setting up the only goal of a game later dubbed the ‘Disgrace of Gijón’, when West Germany went 1-0 up against Austria before both teams sat back for the rest of the game because the scoreline would send them both through to the knockout stages at the expense of Algeria. The xG race chart from that game shows just how uncompetitive the game was from the 30th minute onwards as both teams effectively waited for the full-time whistle.
Littbarski did make some other telling contributions, though, including two assists in the group-stage win over Chile, one more in the second-round victory over Spain and another in extra-time in the semi-final against France, a 3-3 draw now considered a World Cup classic that West Germany eventually won on penalties and has since become known as the Night of Seville.
What is it with Littbarski and getting assists in games that are later given names of their own?
The German went on to lose the final in 1982, and he was also a beaten finalist in 1986, a tournament in which he failed to get a single assist despite making five appearances. However, he added two more assists in the group-stage win over the United Arab Emirates in 1990, finally enjoying World Cup glory in Italy, as Littbarski and West Germany got revenge on Argentina for the 1986 final with a 1-0 win.
Grzegorz Lato (7 Assists)
Grzegorz Lato was a prolific goalscorer for Poland through the 1970s and 1980s, now ranking third in the nation’s top scorers’ list, with 45 goals in his 100 appearances.
However, he was also known for his creativity and ranks joint third in the list of most assists in World Cup games since the 1966 tournament, with seven. He is also among a select group of players with more than 10 goals, making him one of only six players with 10+ goals and 5+ assists at the World Cup in this period, along with Messi, Pelé, Kylian Mbappé and Müllers Gerd and Thomas.
Lato’s first assists at the World Cup came in wins over Argentina and Haiti during the 1974 group stage, a tournament in which he helped Poland to a third-place finish with a tournament-best seven goals.
Four years later, he got one assist in the first group stage and then another in the second, but Poland crashed out with defeats to Argentina and Brazil.
His most prolific tournament in assists terms, however, was 1982, when he laid one goal on in a 5-1 win over Peru and then two more in the defeat of Belgium in the second group stage to take his total to seven.
Michael Olise (7 Assists)
Michael Olise broke the record for the most assists in recorded history (since 1966) at a World Cup tournament with seven for France in 2026.
The forward went into the 2026 World Cup in fine form, having produced 22 goals and 26 assists in all competitions for Bayern Munich in the 2025-26 campaign.
Getting to play with the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Bradley Barcola and Kylian Mbappé at international level certainly helps, too.
Olise provided an assist for Mbappé in France’s opening win over Senegal, and then another two in the victory over Iraq.
The former Crystal Palace man also produced a pair of assists in The Blues‘ 3-0 win in the last 32 against Sweden to get to five after just four games, and he added two more in the third-place play-off against England.
Nine Players (6 Assists)
Kylian Mbappé, David Beckham, Pelé, Thomas Häßler, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Uwe Seeler, Francesco Totti and Ivan Perisic are level on six assists each.
Seeler needed the most games to get his half dozen (21), while Totti needed the fewest (11).
Pelé, meanwhile, played in four World Cups but got all of his assists in six games at the 1970 editionwhich he and Brazil won. Three of these nine players won the World Cup, with only Perisic, Seeler and Beckham failing to do so.
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