Lionel Messi, Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and extra: Who tops FIFA’s all-time males’s worldwide assists chart?

On the identical historic day when Cristiano Ronaldo achieved historical past with Portugal, Lionel Messi, the captain of Argentina, continued to rewrite soccer’s report books even at 38. In a pleasant match performed at Inter Miami’s Chase Stadium, the Argentine icon led his nationwide workforce to a commanding 6-0 win over Puerto Rico — and in doing so, he quietly beat the report of Neymar, his former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain teammate and longtime rival.

Messi, who has lengthy dominated headlines for his targets, achieved this time one thing that highlights one other facet of his genius — his imaginative and prescient, precision, and creativity. Whereas the match was a snug win for Argentina, the story behind it was a lot larger than the scoreline.

Taking part in on acquainted turf in Miami, the place the veteran now shines for Inter Miami, La Albiceleste displayed the standard of a world champion. Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring earlier than Gonzalo Montiel and Lautaro Martínez added to the tally, with Messi orchestrating play from midfield.

The world champion didn’t rating himself however was concerned in practically each attacking sequence. His help for Montiel’s volley and one other for Martínez’s objective confirmed that his sharpness and consciousness stay unmatched. It was his second help of the night time, although, that might etch his title into yet one more chapter of soccer historical past.

Messi overcomes Neymar’s feat

Halfway by means of the second half, Messi slipped a intelligent through-ball into area for Lautaro Martinez, who completed calmly to make it 5-0. It regarded like simply one other help — till the post-match affirmation arrived: that go had damaged a FIFA all-time report.

With that play, Lionel Messi formally turned the participant with essentially the most assists in males’s worldwide soccer historical past, surpassing Neymar. The report had lengthy been contested amongst world greats. Neymar, who sits simply behind with 59 assists for Brazil, had briefly held the lead. Earlier than them, American nice Landon Donovan was the shock holder of the report for practically a decade, registering 58 assists throughout his worldwide profession.

Rating: Most assists in males’s worldwide soccer historical past