Assist (association football)

Contribution by a player which helps to score a goal

In association football, an assist is a contribution leading to the scoring of a goal, where the contribution is made by someone on the scoring team other than the scorer. Statistics for assists made by players may be kept officially by the organisers of a competition, or unofficially by, for example, journalists or organisers of fantasy football competitions. Recording assists is not part of the official Laws of the Game and the criteria for an assist to be awarded may vary. Record of assists was virtually not kept at all until the end of the 20th century, although reports of matches commonly described a player as having "made" one or more goals. Since the 1990s, some leagues have kept official record of assists and based awards on them.

The separate player statistics "goals [scored]" and "assists" may be aggregated to a statistic called "[goal] contributions" or "[goal] involvements" (analogous to what is called a point in ice hockey).

## Criteria

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Most commonly, an assist is credited to a player for passing or crossing the ball to the scorer. It may also be awarded to a player whose shot rebounds (off a defender, goalkeeper or goalpost) to a teammate who scores. Some systems may credit an assist to a player who wins a penalty kick or a free kick for another player to convert,[1][2] or to an attacking player for contributing to an own goal.[3] A goal may be unassisted, or have one assist; some systems allow for two assists.[1][4]

### Opta criteria

[edit]

Opta, a British sports analytics company and the official provider of Premier League statistics,[5][6] defines an assist as "The final touch from a teammate, which leads to the recipient of the ball scoring a goal". Opta requires that if the assist is deflected by an opposition player, it must be deemed as travelling to the goalscorer irrespective of the deflection. Also according to Opta, "in the event of an own goal, direct free kick goal and direct corner goal, an assist will not be awarded. This same rule applies to penalties unless the penalty taker chooses to pass the ball for another player to score."[7]

According to Opta, an assist is not awarded in the following cases:

* Goals scored directly from penalty kicks, direct free kicks, or corner-kicks
* Own goals
* Deflected or rebounded balls from opponents that affected the ball's delivery to the goal scorer.
* Balls rebounded off the post.

Opta attest that this strict definition makes assist statistics more accurate and fair in analyzing players' sports performance.

### FIFA World Cup

[edit]

FIFA's Technical Study Group is responsible for awarding assist points at the FIFA World Cup.[8] In the Technical Study Group's report on the 1986 World Cup, the authors calculated for the first time unofficial statistics for assists, developing the following criteria:[1]

1. An assist was awarded to the player who had given the last pass to the goalscorer.
2. In addition, the last but two holder of the ball could get an assist provided that his action had decisive importance for the goal.
3. After goals from rebounds those players were awarded an assist who had shot on target.
4. After goals scored on penalty or by a directly converted free-kick the fouled player received a point.
5. In case that the goalscorer had laid on the goal for himself (dribble, solo run), no assists were awarded.
6. No assists were awarded, either, if the goalscorer took advantage of a missed pass by an opponent.

The 1990 World Cup technical report adopted similar criteria, but changed the free-kick/penalty criterion:[2]

* Where goals resulting from penalties are concerned, the player who is fouled in the area receives an assist point (unless, that is, the player who is fouled subsequently executes the penalty himself).[citation needed]

Planet World Cup has calculated some retrospective data on assists back to the 1966 World Cup,[9] though the 1986 data differs from that of FIFA.[1][10]

FIFA started officially keeping track of assists in World Cup tournaments at the 1994 edition.[11] This was popularly ascribed to the popularity of detailed sports statistics among fans.[11] 1994 was also the first World Cup in which assists were used as a tie-breaker in determining the Golden Shoe award for top scorer.[11][12] In the event, both Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko tied with 19 points, from 6 goals and 1 assist.[12]

### France

[edit]

The French league, Ligue 1, awards the Trophée de Meilleur Passeur ("best passer trophy") to the player with most "decisive passes" in a season, starting in the 2007–08 season.[13] Sports newspaper L'Équipe had unofficially tracked assists for some years prior to then.[14] The league's Commission des Compétitions includes blocked shots as a subset of "decisive passes".[15][16] In 2012–13, Mathieu Valbuena and Dimitri Payet finished with 12 assists, Valbuena winning the trophy by having fewer blocked shots (3 against 5) among his total.[16]

### Spain

[edit]

For the 1998–99 La Liga season, SDI sold its Gecasport database to Spanish media, in which asistencias de gol were described as "passes which lead immediately to a shot and goal".[17]

### Ukraine

[edit]

In Ukraine, a traceable documentation of assists calculation started out by Ukrainian newspaper "Komanda" during the 2004–05 season of the Ukrainian Higher League (Vyshcha Liha).[18] The calculation of assist has certain problems to establish what is the "last pass" which led to a scored goal.[18] Different institutions have own perception of it. Some specialists consider that an assist has to be a deliberate action meaning that it does not include the situation when a ball randomly rebounded to a scoring striker.

### United Kingdom

[edit]

In the United Kingdom, official game statistics, including assists, for the Premier League, the Scottish Premiership, and the English Football League are provided by PA Sport under the Actim brand.[19] Since the 2006–07 season, assists have been factored into the Actim Index of Premier League player performance.[20] The assist statistics provided by fantasy football competitions may differ from the Actim data; some uniformly credit an assist to whichever teammate last touched the ball before the scorer, regardless of other circumstances of the play.[21] The Premier League Playmaker of the Season award was introduced in the 2017–18 Premier League for the player with most assists.[22]

### United States

[edit]

The original North American Soccer League kept assist statistics from its foundation in 1968, as its forebears the United Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League had done the previous year.[23] Analogous statistics were already being kept in basketball and in ice hockey, both established North American sports.

Major League Soccer formerly awarded the MLS Golden Boot based on 2 points per goal scored and one per assist.[citation needed]

The NCAA makes regulations for statistics, including assists, in college soccer in the U.S.[24] Two players may be credited with assists if the second did not have to beat a defender before passing to the scorer.[4] No assist is awarded for winning a penalty.[25] If a goal is scored after a save, block, or rebound from the goal frame, the first shooter gets an assist.[26]

## Statistics

[edit]

These totals are the official records recognised by the relevant governing body. Independent statistics providers may have different data, either through crediting different players for a given goal, or through having begun recording assists earlier or later than the official statistics provider. Expected assists (xA) is a performance metric that measures the likelihood that a completed pass becomes an assist, factoring in distance and the type of pass.[27]

### Players with most assists in all competitions (all-time)

[edit]

Players  | Teams(s)  | Assists  | Refs

|
|
|

Ferenc Puskás | Budapest Honvéd, Real Madrid, Hungary, Spain, Madrid | 404  | [28][better source needed]
Lionel Messi | Barcelona, Paris-Saint Germain, Inter Miami, Argentina | 377
Pelé | Santos, New York Cosmos, Brazil | 369
Johan Cruyff | Ajax, Barcelona, Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats, Levante, Feyenoord | 358
Thomas Müller | Bayern Munich, Germany | 302
Luis Suárez | Groningen, Ajax, Liverpool, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Nacional, Grêmio, Inter Miami, Uruguay | 293
Luís Figo | Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Portugal | 283
Ryan Giggs | Manchester United, Wales | 277
Cristiano Ronaldo | Sporting CP, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Al-Nassr, Portugal | 268
Ángel Di María | Rosario Central, Benfica, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Argentina | 259

### Players with most assists in international football (all-time)

[edit]

Players  | Team(s)  | Assists  | Refs

|
|
|

Landon Donovan | United States | 58  | [29][30]
Neymar | Brazil | 58  | [29][30]
Lionel Messi | Argentina | 58  | [31]
Ferenc Puskás | Hungary | 53  | [29]
Sándor Kocsis | Hungary | 50  | [29]
Pelé | Brazil | 47  | [29]
Kevin De Bruyne | Belgium national football team | 52  | [29]
Thomas Müller | Germany national football team | 41  | [29]
Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal national football team | 37  | [29]
David Beckham | England national football team | 36  | [29]

### Players with most assists in a given competition (all-time)

[edit]

Competition  | Records
began  | Leading player(s)  | Team(s)  | Assists  | Refs

|
|
|
|
|

FIFA World Cup | 1954 | Pelé | Brazil | 10  | [32]
UEFA European Championship | 1960 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | 7  | [33]
Copa América | 1916[dubious – discuss] | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 18  | [34]
FIFA Club World Cup | 2000 | Neri Cardozo | Boca Juniors, Monterrey | 5  | [citation needed]
FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) | 1994 | Neymar | Brazil | 19  | [35]
UEFA Champions League | 1992 | Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 41  | [36]
Premier League | 1992 | Ryan Giggs | Manchester United | 162  | [37]
La Liga | 1929[dubious – discuss] | Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 192  | [38]
Serie A | 1986 | Francesco Totti | Roma | 88  | [39]
Bundesliga | 2004 | Thomas Müller | Bayern Munich | 175  | [40]
Major League Soccer | 1996 | Landon Donovan | LA Galaxy | 136  | [41]
Ligue 1 | 2001  | Dimitri Payet | Nantes, Saint-Étienne, Lille, Marseille | 115  | [42]
UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League | 2001 | Bořek Dočkal | Slovan Liberec, Rosenborg, Slavia Prague | 26  | [43]
UEFA Super Cup | 1973 | Gareth Bale | Real Madrid | 3  | [44]
Vitolo | Sevilla, Atlético Madrid

### Players with most assists in a given competition (single season)[45]

[edit]

Competition  | Player(s)  | Team(s)  | Assists  | Season(s)  | Refs

|
|
|
|
|

Major League Soccer | Carlos Valderrama | Tampa Bay Mutiny | 26  | 2000 | [46][47][48][49]
La Liga | Míchel | Real Madrid | 21  | 1987–88 | [50]
Lionel Messi | Barcelona | 2019–20 | [51][52]
Bundesliga | Thomas Müller | Bayern Munich | 21  | 2019–20 | [53]
Premier League | Thierry Henry | Arsenal | 20  | 2002–03 | [54]
Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | 2019–20
Ligue 1 | Ángel Di María | Paris Saint-Germain | 18  | 2015–16 | [55]
Serie A | Ronaldinho | AC Milan | 18  | 2009–10 | [56]
UEFA Champions League | Luis Figo | Barcelona | 9  | 1999–2000 | [57]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d FIFA Technical Study Group (1986). "1986 World Cup Technical Report, part 4" (PDF). FIFA. The Table of Goalscorers: Goals and Assists, page 198. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
2. ^ a b FIFA Technical Study Group (1990). "1990 World Cup Technical Report, part 6" (PDF). FIFA. p. 281\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2012. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
3. ^ "Haverford College vs Alvernia College". Haverford College. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
4. ^ a b NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(1)
5. ^ "Who are Opta Index?". Opta Index Limited. Archived from the original on 13 December 2000. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
6. ^ "Sports Internet Group plc Results for the period to 31 August 1999". Sports Internet Group plc. 21 December 1999. Retrieved 8 December 2017 – via Investegate.
7. ^ "Opta event definitions". Opta. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
8. ^ "adidas Golden Shoe Award" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
9. ^ "World Cup 1966 statistics". Planet World Cup. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
10. ^ "World Cup 1986 statistics". Planet World Cup. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
11. ^ a b c Bryan, Rebecca (11 July 1994). "Football by the numbers". Los Angeles: Agence France Presse. "the assist has gained enough ground to earn a place in the calculations for the Golden Boot award, which in every previous World Cup has been awarded solely on the basis of goals scored. Under the formula, players get three points for a goal, and one point for an assist. "We made a two-point difference because we do not want someone who did not score winning the award," a FIFA official said."
12. ^ a b "Romario is voted the top player of World Cup '94 and winner of the FIFA/adidas Golden Ball award; Salenko and Stoichkov tie as leading scorers for World Cup USA '94". Business Wire. 17 July 1994. "[FIFA] has announced Oleg Salenko (Russia) and Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) as [...] winners of the prestigious adidas Golden Shoe award [...] who made six goals and one assist each. Kennet Andersson (Sweden) with 5 goals and 3 assists, will receive a Bronze replica of the Predator [...] Throughout World Cup '94, three points were awarded for each goal scored and one point for each assist leading to a goal, with a maximum of two assists per goal. Assists are only taken into account if two or more players scored the same number of goals."
13. ^ "Thauvin n'oublie pas de passer" (in French). LFP.fr. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 June 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2020. "la création du classement officiel des passeurs en 2007/08"
14. ^ Delbrayelle, Dominique; Garin, Erik; Di Maggio, Roberto (20 June 2019). "France – Topscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
15. ^ "James Rodriguez en prince de la passe" (in French). Ligue de Football Professionnel. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
16. ^ a b "C'est la bonne pour Mathieu Valbuena". Ligue de Football Professionnel. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
17. ^ "Criterios de Elaboración de Estadísticas". sdifutbol.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 November 1999. Retrieved 5 June 2020. "pases que implican, de manera inmediata, un tiro y gol"; Lago-Peñas, Carlos; Lago-Ballesteros, Joaquín; Dellal, Alexandre; Gómez, Maite (1 June 2010). "Game-Related Statistics that Discriminated Winning, Drawing and Losing Teams from the Spanish Soccer League". Journal of Sports Science & Medicine. 9 (2): 288–293\. ISSN 1303-2968. PMC 3761743. PMID 24149698. "Gecasport, a private company dedicated to the performance assessment of teams in the Spanish Soccer League (www.sdifutbol.com)."; Peña, Donald (July 2004). "Goleada estadística" (PDF). Indice (in Spanish) (5): 18–19\. ISSN 1697-2325. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 September 2004. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
18. ^ a b "Чи обжене Ярмоленко Тайсона?". upl.ua (archived). Archived from the original on 21 December 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
19. ^ "Actim Stats Frequently Asked Questions". PA Sport. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
20. ^ "Actim Index Explained". PA Sport. Archived from the original on 2 August 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
21. ^ Coombs, Dan (22 September 2013). "Mesut Ozil... When is an assist not an assist?". HITC Sport. hereisthecity. Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
22. ^ "New Premier League player award announced" (Press release). Premier League. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
23. ^ "NASL Top Scorer Award". midfielddynamo. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
24. ^ "Section 5: Assists" (PDF). Official Soccer Statistics Rules; Approved Rulings and Interpretations (PDF). NCAA. 2009. p. 2\. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 March 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
25. ^ NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(3)
26. ^ NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(8),(9)
27. ^ https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12829539/expected-goals-expected-assists-pressures-carries-high-turnovers-and-more-advanced-stats-explained
28. ^ "Top 10 Players With Most Assists In Soccer History". Jobs In Football. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
29. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Top 10 players with most assists in international football history". Khel Now. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
30. ^ a b "Neymar Ties International Assists Record Set By Landon Donovan". Fannation Futbol. 13 October 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
31. ^ "Lionel Messi equals USMNT icon Landon Donovan's record for most assists in international football while Argentina team-mate Lautaro Martinez matches Diego Maradona after stunning winning goal vs Peru | Goal.com UK". www.goal.com. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2025.
32. ^ "'Youngest player to win the World Cup' - What are the records that Pele holds in world football?". Goal.com. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
33. ^ "Cristiano Ronaldo (7) supera a Karel Poborsky (6) y ya es, EN SOLITARIO, el jugador con más asistencias en TODA la historia de la Eurocopa" (in Spanish). MisterChip. 22 June 2024.
34. ^ "All Types of Assists, including non-Opta Assists". MessivsRonaldo.app. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
35. ^ "IFFHS". www.iffhs.com. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
36. ^ "Who Has the Most Champions League Assists?". Opta. 12 October 2023. Archived from the original on 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
37. ^ "Assists". Premier League Player Stats. Premier League. Retrieved 5 June 2020.; "Ryan Giggs". Premier League Players. Premier League. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
38. ^ "Messi vs Ronaldo World Records, Goal Records and More". MessivsRonaldo.app. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
39. ^ "Player with most assists in Serie A history". BeSoccer. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
40. ^ "300 - Thomas Müller's assist was his 300th goal involvement in the Bundesliga". Twitter. 4 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
41. ^ "Stats (All-time)". Major League Soccer. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
42. ^ "Ligue 1 2024 top assists table". BeSoccer. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
43. ^ "Players – Most assists". UEFA. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
44. ^ "Most UEFA Super Cup assists". BeSoccer. 18 August 2023.
45. ^ "Players With the Most Assists in a Single Season in Europe's Top-Five Leagues". 90min. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
46. ^ MLS Site Archived August 4, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
47. ^ [1]
48. ^ [2]
49. ^ [3]
50. ^ "HISTORIA DE LA LIGA ESPAÑOLA". historiaelectoral.com.
51. ^ "Messi breaks LaLiga Santander record for most assists in a season". Marca. 19 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
52. ^ "Stats: Messi breaks two all-time records; Ramos' unique first this century". ESPN. 20 July 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
53. ^ "Thomas Muller Breaks Kevin De Bruyne's Bundesliga Assist Record". beIN Sports. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
54. ^ "Kevin de Bruyne: Twentieth assist of season equals Thierry Henry's record". BBC Sport. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
55. ^ "Angel Di Maria sets new Ligue 1 record with 18 assists". Goal. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
56. ^ "I 10 calciatori che hanno realizzato più assist in una stagione di Serie A". Calciatori Brutti. 11 July 2020. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
57. ^ "Most Assists in a Single Champions League Campaign". Opta. 12 October 2023.