FIFA World Cup 2022: Top Five assists of the tournament so far

Football in essence is a game where a team that scores the most number of goals is adjudged the winner at the end of the 90 minutes. It is for this reason that goal scorers are revered and receive great plaudits for scoring.

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Many a time however it is the assist providers who do the heavy lifting and have more contribution to a goal. To celebrate the selflessness of assist providers, let’s look at the best assists at the FIFA World Cup 2022.

Son Heung-min vs Portugal

South Korea had a sensational run at the FIFA World Cup 2022. From a very competitive group, the Asian team managed to qualify for the Round of 16. A huge credit for Korean Republic’s great run goes to star player Son Heung-min.

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Against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, Son was at his mercurial best when he lead the counterattack and ran with the ball for 70 yards before perfectly timing his pass to Hwang Hee-chan to score the winner.

Watch at the 3:09 minute mark

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Denzel Dumfries vs USA

A brilliant sweeping move consisting of one-touch passing allows the Netherlands to move the ball against the USA. The 26-year-old Dumfries is at the heart of the move that slices through US defence. He receives the ball at the edge of the box on the right corner and plays a beautiful cutback in the path of Memphis Depay who buries it into the bottom left corner.

Watch at the 1:00-minute mark. 

Vinicius Junior vs South Korea

The Real Madrid attacker runs with the ball upon receiving it from Neymar on the left. With 6 Korean players in the box, the 22-year-old has to play an inch-perfect pass to a teammate without being intercepted by an opposition player. The attacker chips the ball over Korean players into the path of Lucas Paqueta who easily slides it into the box.

Watch at the 2:42 minute mark: 

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Lionel Messi vs Netherlands

With the match hanging in balance, Lionel Messi dropped down a shoulder and darted through the midfield creating chaos in the Netherlands' defence. With so much still to do, the Argentinian threaded in an inch-perfect through ball to Nahuel Molina who stabs the ball beyond the diving Netherlands keeper, putting his team in front.

Watch at 0:55 minute mark: 

Lionel Messi vs Croatia

Lionel Messi took the do-or-die game by the scruff of the neck and opened the scoring with a cooly taken penalty in the 34^th minute. In the 69^th minute, the 7 times Ballon d’Or winner dazzles past Gvardiol on the right after dropping a shoulder. With a lot still to be done, Messi hangs onto the ball and beats the Croatian defender to go into the penalty box and plays a simple ball into the path of Julian Alvarez. The Argentina striker merely has to slot the ball into the net for Argentina’s third goal.

Watch at 1:35 minute mark: