Most Assists in Football History: All-Time Top 7 (2026)

Last updated: 13 October 2026. Figures are for club and international football combined and are correct as of early October 2026 unless stated otherwise.

Strikers get the headlines, but every great goalscorer has relied on someone to put the ball on a plate. Where would Lionel Messi’s early Barcelona years have been without Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Dani Alves feeding him? He would probably still have been near the top of every goalscoring chart, just not quite so far ahead.

The twist is that Messi himself is now the greatest supplier the game has ever recorded. In November 2025 he overtook Ferenc Puskas’s long-standing mark to become the player with the most assists in football history, and he has kept adding to it at Inter Miami and the 2026 World Cup.

Who has the most assists in football history?

Lionel Messi holds the record for the most assists in football history, with more than 420 across club and international football. He tied Puskas on 404 with three assists in Inter Miami’s 4-0 play-off win over FC Cincinnati in November 2025, then went clear with assist number 405 in the 5-1 Eastern Conference final victory over New York City FC on 30 November 2025.

How assists are counted (and why totals differ)

Assist numbers vary more than goal tallies, so it is worth knowing why before you compare lists:

Definitions differ. Some data providers credit an assist only for the final pass; others also count passes deflected into a scorer’s path, or the player who wins a penalty or free-kick.
Older records are reconstructions. Assists were not tracked consistently in most competitions until the 1990s, so figures for Puskas, Pele and Cruyff come from historians rebuilding match reports.
Friendlies and minor cups. Some totals include every official match; others leave out club friendlies or domestic super cups.

That means you will often see a player’s total vary by five, ten or even more depending on the source. The rankings below use the most widely cited figures for club and country combined.

Most assists in football history: All-time top 7

Rank	Player	Nation	Career assists	Status
1	Lionel Messi	Argentina	420+	Active (Inter Miami)
2	Ferenc Puskas	Hungary / Spain	404	Retired
3	Pele	Brazil	369	Retired
4	Johan Cruyff	Netherlands	358	Retired
5	Thomas Muller	Germany	357+	Active (Vancouver Whitecaps)
6	Luis Suarez	Uruguay	318+	Active (Inter Miami)
7	Kevin De Bruyne	Belgium	316+	Active (Napoli)

“+” denotes an active player whose total is still rising. Totals for Muller, Suarez and De Bruyne are as of mid-2026.

7. Kevin De Bruyne – 316+ assists

Arguably the finest pure creator the Premier League has seen, De Bruyne became the quickest player in the competition’s history to reach 100 assists and spent a decade turning Manchester City’s attacks into chances. His crossing from the right half-space and his ability to pick a pass first time made him almost impossible to plan for.

He left City for Napoli in 2025 and, despite injuries slowing him down, is still adding to his tally in Serie A and the Champions League, where he has climbed into the competition’s all-time top five for assists.

6. Luis Suarez – 318+ assists

Suarez is remembered as one of the most complete centre-forwards of his era, but his creativity is often overlooked. As the focal point of the famous MSN attack alongside Messi and Neymar, he regularly dropped deep and slid his team-mates in, and he was just as generous at Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.

Roughly 280 of his assists have come at club level, with close to 40 for Uruguay. Now reunited with Messi at Inter Miami, he is still creating chances in MLS.

5. Thomas Muller – 357+ assists

Muller may be the most underrated attacker of his generation. He was never the quickest or most skilful player on the pitch, but his movement and reading of space (the “Raumdeuter”, or space interpreter, as he called himself) made him a constant creator. He holds the Bundesliga record of 21 assists in a single season, set in 2019-20.

After 25 years at Bayern Munich he joined Vancouver Whitecaps in August 2025 and made an immediate impact, helping the club to the MLS Cup final in his first season. He also provided over 40 assists in more than a decade with Germany.

4. Johan Cruyff – 358 assists

The architect of Total Football, Cruyff won three Ballons d’Or and changed how the game was played at Ajax, Barcelona and with the Netherlands. His figures come from historical reconstructions rather than live data, but his reputation as a creator is beyond doubt. He shaped the possession football that still dominates the sport today.

3. Pele – 369 assists

Pele is remembered for his goals, but the three-time World Cup winner was a complete forward who created as freely as he scored. His total, compiled by historians from Santos, New York Cosmos and Brazil records, puts him third on the all-time list.

2. Ferenc Puskas – 404 assists

The Hungarian great scored more than 700 goals in his career and, by most historical counts, set up 404 more in around 719 appearances for Honved, Real Madrid, Hungary and Spain. He led the Magical Magyars to the 1954 World Cup final and won three European Cups with Real Madrid. His assist record stood for decades until Messi finally caught it in late 2025.

1. Lionel Messi – 420+ assists

Lionel Messi, the player with the most assists in football history — Image: @thelittleforty

Messi is not only one of the greatest goalscorers in history but the greatest creator ever recorded. Whether threading a pass through a crowded box, lofting a ball over the top or drifting inside and squaring for a team-mate, he has made the difficult look routine for two decades.

The bulk of his assists came at Barcelona, where he also holds the La Liga record for most assists in a single season (21 in 2019-20). He added more at Paris Saint-Germain, and his move to Inter Miami has been remarkably productive: he became the first player in MLS history to record 30 or more goal contributions in three separate seasons in September 2026.

On the international stage he became the all-time leader for men’s international assists in June 2026, passing Neymar and Landon Donovan (58 each) in a friendly against Puerto Rico. At the 2026 World Cup he also became the tournament’s record assist provider, passing Diego Maradona’s eight and assisting in six consecutive World Cups from 2006 to 2026. Argentina reached the final again before losing 1-0 to Spain after extra time.

The chasing pack: who else is close?

Just outside the top seven, a group of modern players have passed or are approaching 300 career assists. Their totals vary more between sources than most, so treat these as approximate:

Angel Di Maria (around 300+) – a creator for Benfica, Real Madrid, Manchester United, PSG, Juventus and Argentina, now back at boyhood club Rosario Central. He sits second on the all-time Champions League assists list.
Cristiano Ronaldo (around 260–305, depending on source) – best known for goals, but a prolific provider in his winger days at Manchester United and Real Madrid. He holds the record for Champions League assists.
Neymar (around 280+) – one of the most creative players of the 21st century for Santos, Barcelona, PSG and Brazil.

Legends without complete data

Diego Maradona most assists in football history

Even the reconstructions above only capture part of football’s history. Plenty of great creators played before reliable records existed, so their true totals will never be known. Players such as Diego Maradona, George Best and Michel Platini would almost certainly feature high up an all-time assists list if every match had been logged.

Most assists in football history: Key records

404 – Ferenc Puskas’s all-time assists record, which stood for decades until Lionel Messi passed it on 30 November 2025.
60+ – Messi’s men’s international assists, a record he took from Neymar and Landon Donovan in June 2026.
6 – Consecutive World Cups (2006 to 2026) in which Messi provided at least one assist; he is now the World Cup’s all-time leading assist provider, ahead of Maradona.
42 – Champions League assists for Cristiano Ronaldo, the most in the competition’s history. Angel Di Maria (41) and Messi (40) are close behind.
162 – Premier League assists for Ryan Giggs, still the competition record. Kevin De Bruyne, once tipped to challenge it, left for Napoli in 2025.
21 – Single-season league records for Messi (La Liga, 2019-20) and Thomas Muller (Bundesliga, 2019-20).
9 – Assists for James Milner in Liverpool’s 2017-18 Champions League campaign, the most in a single season of the competition.
3 – MLS seasons in which Messi has posted 30+ goal contributions, a first in the league’s history.

Frequently asked questions

Who has the most assists in football history?

Lionel Messi, with more than 420 assists for Barcelona, PSG, Inter Miami and Argentina. He overtook Ferenc Puskas (404) in November 2025.

When did Messi break the all-time assist record?

Messi drew level with Puskas on 404 with three assists against FC Cincinnati in the 2025 MLS play-offs, then registered his record-breaking 405th in Inter Miami’s 5-1 Eastern Conference final win over New York City FC on 30 November 2025.