Superstar Lionel Messi continues to add another historic milestone to his journey of conquering World Cup finals.
In the 79th minute at the Atlanta stadium (USA), in the match between Argentina and Egypt in the round of 16 on the early morning of July 8, Messi made a favorable pass from the right wing for Cristian Romero to head the ball into the opponent’s net, reducing the score to 1-2 for Argentina.
This assist helped Messi raise his total number of “assists” at World Cup finals to 9, officially surpassing the legend Diego Maradona to solely hold the number one position on the list of players with the most assists in the tournament’s history.
Notably, Messi’s 9 assists were made across 6 World Cups. He had one assist in the 2006, 2010, and 2014 tournaments, contributed two assists at the 2018 World Cup. After that, Messi had three assists in the 2022 World Cup-winning journey and one more “assist” at the 2026 World Cup to establish the historic milestone.
Even so, looking specifically at the 2026 World Cup, Messi is still behind Michael Olise, who has impressed by racking up as many as 5 assists for the France national team.
Alongside the assist for Romero, Messi also shone with the equalizer to make it 2-2 against Egypt. Towards the end of the second half, Enzo Fernandez scored to complete a spectacular comeback, helping Argentina win 3-2 and secure a ticket to the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Cup
