Lionel Messi hasn’t enjoyed many better years in his glittering football career than 2022.
Sure, the great man didn’t score 91 goals like he did in 2012, nor did he win the Ballon d’Or – that award went to Real Madrid superstar Karim Benzema.
But 2022 saw Messi return to his very best at both club and international level, the latter in particular.
Messi memorably won the FIFA World Cup for the very first time with Argentina out in Qatar – and he claimed the Golden Ball accolade too.
The diminutive genius scored seven goals at the tournament, with two of them coming in the epic final victory over France.
Messi also contributed three assists, adding to his enormous tally in that regard over the course of the calendar year.
In fact, the 35-year-old sits head and shoulders above the rest. The folks over at PopFoot have calculated the 20 players with the most assists in 2022, with Messi sitting comfortably at the top.
Check out the list…
The 20 players with the most assists for club and country combined in 2022
20. Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur & England) – 14 assists in 62 games | 0.23-per-game
19. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 14 assists in 62 games | 0.23-per-game
18. Mason Mount (Chelsea & England) – 14 assists in 60 games | 0.23-per-game
17. Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig & France) – 14 assists in 58 games | 0.24-per-game
16. Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich & Germany) – 14 assists in 52 games | 0.27-per-game
15. Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich & Germany) – 15 assists in 54 games | 0.28-per-game
14. Benjamin Bourigeaud (Rennes & France) – 15 assists in 43 games | 0.35-per-game
13. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid & Brazil) – 16 assists in 60 games | 0.27-per-game
12. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid & France) – 16 assists in 55 games | 0.29-per-game
11. Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham Hotspur & Sweden) – 16 assists in 46 games | 0.35-per-game
10. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain & France) – 17 assists in 56 games | 0.30-per-game
9. Rafael Leao (AC Milan & Portugal) – 17 assists in 56 games | 0.30-per-game
8. Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig & Hungary) – 17 assists in 55 games | 0.31-per-game
7. Alassane Plea (Borussia Monchengladbach & France) – 17 assists in 31 games | 0.55-per-game
6. Ivan Perisic (Tottenham Hotspur & Croatia) – 18 assists in 60 games | 0.30-per-game
5. Andrew Robertson (Liverpool & Scotland) – 18 assists in 52 games | 0.35-per-game
4. Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona & France) – 20 assists in 53 games | 0.38-per-game
3. Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain & Brazil) – 20 assists in 43 games | 0.47-per-game
2. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City & Belgium) – 27 assists in 55 games | 0.49-per-game
- Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain & Argentina) – 30 assists in 51 games | 0.59-per-game
Lionel, you’re an absolute joke!
Not only does Messi lift the award for most assists in 2022, he also has the best assists-per-game average of the 20 men listed above.
No wonder so many believe he’s the GOAT…
Source: givemesport
