In football, an Assist refers to the contribution of a player to a goal scored.

Unlike goals, recording assists is not part of the official Laws of the Game but it is usually commented upon and listed by the media in their reports. Organizers may also take note of the assists in a game.

Criteria for an Assist

Most commonly, an assist is credited to a player for crossing or passing the ball to a teammate who then makes the goal.

This can also involve players who shot rebounds to the scoring teammate or players who win a penalty or free kick which is then converted by another player into a goal.

Assists in the FIFA World Cup

For the 1986 World Cup, the Technical Study Group first reported the number of assists made by players. As a result, 6 criteria were created to help determine an assist. They are:

  • An assist was awarded to the player who had given the last pass to the goal scorer.
  • In addition, the last but two holders of the ball could get an assist provided that his action had decisive importance for the goal.
  • After goals from rebounds, those players were awarded an assist who had shot on target.
  • After goals are scored on penalty or by a directly converted free-kick the fouled player received a point.
  • In case the goal scorer had laid on the goal for himself (dribble, solo run), no assists were awarded.
  • No assists were awarded, either, if the goal scorer took advantage of a missed pass by an opponent.

At the 1990 World Cup, the following criteria were added:

  • Where goals resulting from penalties are concerned, the player who is fouled in the area receives an assist point (unless that is, the player who is fouled subsequently executes the penalty himself).

FIFA officially started tracking assists during the 1994 World Cup. It was also in this World Cup that assists were used as a tie-breaker in determining who should receive the Golden Shoe award.