Most Assists in a Game: Messi’s Five and the Premier League Record
Messi’s five assists set the MLS match record; the Premier League record is four. See what counts as an assist and why the competition matters.
Lionel Messi holds the MLS record with five assists in one game, set in Inter Miami’s 6–2 win over the New York Red Bulls on 4 May 2024. He also scored, giving him six goal contributions. MLS’s match report confirms both records.
As of 26 October 2026, the Premier League single-game record is four assists, shared by eight players in StatMuse’s match leaderboard.
The competition matters: Messi’s five is an MLS record, not proof of a universal record covering every level of soccer.
What counts as an assist?
An assist credits a player’s involvement in a teammate’s goal. Under Opta’s conventional definition, it is the final touch from a teammate that leads to the recipient scoring. A defensive deflection can still qualify if the ball was going to the scorer regardless.
A single-game assist total is a count within one match, not a percentage or a per-90 rate. It has no pass-attempt denominator: five assists does not mean five successful passes out of five attempts.
Definitions also affect comparisons. MLS can award up to two assists on one goal, whereas Opta’s conventional goal assist credits the final teammate’s touch. Guinness’s record entry identifies all five of Messi’s assists as primary assists—the final pass to the scorer. None of his five relied on secondary-assist credit.
How Messi reached five
Inter Miami trailed 1–0 at halftime before scoring six times after the break. Messi supplied both Matías Rojas goals and all three Luis Suárez goals, as well as scoring himself. ESPN’s report corroborates the five-assist performance and the second-half comeback.
The MLS report breaks down the scoring sequence:
| Minute | Scorer assisted by Messi | Messi’s running assist total |
|---|---|---|
| 48 | Matías Rojas | 1 |
| 62 | Matías Rojas | 2 |
| 69 | Luis Suárez | 3 |
| 75 | Luis Suárez | 4 |
| 81 | Luis Suárez | 5 |
Messi’s own goal in the 50th minute does not count as an assist. That distinction separates his five assists from his six goal contributions: goals plus assists.
Who shares the Premier League record?
The eight four-assist players are Dennis Bergkamp, José Antonio Reyes, Cesc Fàbregas, Emmanuel Adebayor, Santi Cazorla, Harry Kane, Paul Pogba and Jérémy Doku.
Bergkamp was the first, against Leicester City in February 1999. Doku became the eighth in Manchester City’s 6–1 win over Bournemouth on 4 November 2023, also scoring the opener. The Premier League’s official record report confirms the four-assist mark and the previous seven holders.
That is a match record, distinct from the Premier League season assist record, which measures accumulated output across a campaign.
What a record assist total tells you—and what it misses
Five assists means five credited contributions to goals that actually happened. It does not measure every chance created, or how difficult each pass was.
Messi’s first assist illustrates the limit: Rojas scored with a powerful long-range strike. The later sequence included a through ball for Rojas’s chip. Both counted as one assist, despite different passing actions and finishes.
Under Opta’s definitions, a final pass leading to a shot that does not score is a key pass; assists plus key passes make up chances created. Consequently, a creator can supply excellent opportunities and finish with no assists if teammates miss. Opta’s methodology makes that distinction explicit.
Use the record to describe exceptional goal creation in one match. To judge creative performance more broadly, also examine the chances supplied, their quality and the minutes played—not just how many teammates finished them.