It goes without saying that in football, play is as important as scoring goals. Although most of the time goal scorers receive praise, the players who create chances are equally important to teams.
Creating chances or assists for a teammate to score has to be right behind your team’s ability to score. Sometimes the playmaker will do most of the work and all the striker needs to do is put the ball in the net.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the 5 best assists at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
#5 Son Heung-min to Hwang Hee-chan (Korea vs Portugal)
south Korea produced a brilliant comeback victory in their last group stage match against Portugal for a place in the round of 16. Ricardo Horta opened the scoring for Fernando Santos’ men in the fifth minute of the game before Kim Young-gwon restored the tie in the 27th minute.
They desperately needed all 3 points and it took until the 91st minute to win. Son Heung-min has always reliably received the ball from his own half and ran nearly 70 meters with it. When he was near the opponent’s penalty area, he looked up and saw Hwang Hee-chan running into the box.
Son waited another tick, drawing three defenders to his side before delivering a sharp pass to the Wolverhampton Wanderers striker.
He made a neat finish to give his team the win. South Korea just conjured up one of the best moments of the group stage. But it’s all due to Son’s efforts and sanity.
#4 Daley Blind vs Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands vs USA)
The Netherlands dominated the United States for most of their round of 16 encounter. Their full-backs played prolific and Denzel Dumfries was the star of the game with two assists and one goal. Daley Blind did quite well for himself too, scoring a goal and creating an assist.
After taking a 2-0 lead, the Netherlands lit up a glimmer of hope for the US when they conceded a goal in the 76th minute. But they quickly extinguished it. Just a few minutes after the US scored, Blind received the ball deep on the left wing and was not included. At this point, there are four USMNT players defending the penalty area.
None of them know except Blind, Dumfries is lurking in the distance. Blind made a touch and passed the ball into the Dumfries net with pinpoint precision and the youngster comfortably poked a slot to close the game.
#3 Lionel Messi to Nahuel Molina (Argentina vs Netherlands)
Argentina are expected to have a hard time trying to break through a solid Dutch defense in their quarter-final. They struggled to find a breakthrough but that was until Messi decided to take things on his own. He received the ball not too far in the Dutch half.
The 35-year-old then drove inside, dragging Nathan Ake with him. As Messi darted inside, Argentinian right-back Nahuel Molina made a run to the edge of the box. Messi didn’t even have to look up.
He blithely shot a pass without looking past Ake’s legs into Molina’s pass and the full-back made no mistake when he put the ball in the net. Messi knocks out 6 players with that one pass.
#2 Vinicius Junior to Lucas Paqueta (Brazil vs Korea)
Brazil completely destroyed Korea in the first half of the round of 16 encounter. Selecao put the ball in the Korean net four times in the 36th minute and their fourth goal was a miracle.
Brazil started one of their sweeping counter-attacks and it was a three-on-four situation when Neymar passed the ball to Vinicius on the left flank. The Real Madrid the winger enters the box, half-turns and slows things down.
Theretofore, Richarlison and raphinha picked up by their markers, Neymar appeared to be running straight into the traffic. That’s when Lucas Paqueta entered the scene with a late dash into the box.
He asked for it and Vinicius made a spectacular tire pass right in his path and the midfielder made a decisive shot into the bottom left corner.
#1 Lionel Messi to Julian Alvarez (Argentina vs Croatia)
Josko Gvardiol, the 20-year-old Croatian centre-back, had a fantastic World Cup and is considered by many to be one of the best defenders of the tournament. Even he can’t be unharmed after a battle with a 35-year-old Messi.
When the score was 2-0, Messi received the ball on the right flank near the middle of the field. Gvardiol stepped out to challenge him but the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner overtook him and ran to the line. But Gvardiol caught up with him and Messi couldn’t make the cross.
No problem. He kept the ball and made a turn before dropping his shoulder and sending Gvardiol in the wrong direction. He turned back and this time, he fouled the young centre-back.
Messi then displayed an incredible amount of power to block him as he curled into the box and then knocked a pass through Gvardiol’s leg to find Alvarez. All the young striker needs to do is wipe it home and he does it with ease.
