Lionel Messi became on Saturday, 11 July, the first footballer with ten assists at World Cups since the statistic has been officially tracked, from 1966. The 39-year-old Argentine captain recorded his jubilee assist in the quarter-final against Switzerland at Arrowhead Stadium.
Messi delivered a corner in the 10th minute from which Alexis Mac Allister headed in to take a 1-0 lead. It was also the earliest goal by the current world champions at this tournament, and Switzerland found themselves in deficit for the first time at the championship: in their previous five matches, they had conceded just three goals.
On the all-time assists list, Messi remains alone at the top, ahead of his compatriot Diego Maradona, who accumulated eight assists at World Cups. The third place, with seven each, is shared by German Pierre Littbarski and Pole Grzegorz Lato.
With the victory, Argentina continues its pursuit of a fourth world title and attempts to become the first national team to defend its title since Brazil in 1962. The path to the semi-finals was not smooth: in the round of 16, they defeated Cape Verde only after extra time, and earlier they overturned a 0-2 deficit against Egypt with three goals in just 11 minutes.
In the semi-finals, Lionel Scaloni's side faces England, who defeated Norway 2-1 on Saturday. The match to enter the final takes place on Wednesday in Atlanta.
