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Goalscorers deservingly bag all the plaudits, but the ones who create scoring opportunities are no less important even if they don't hog much of the limelight.
Since the turn of the century, there has been a plethora of players who have created goals galore for their teammates at club and country. Some of these players are prolific goalscorers themselves, which makes them indispensable for their teams.
On that note, let us have a look at the ten players, some of whom are still active, with the most assists this century. Without further ado, let's get started:
NOTE: All stats are as per transfermarkt.com unless mentioned otherwise.
#10 Kevin De Bruyne - 231
Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in the game at the moment. Though he does not score a lot of goals, he is a master assist-provider, conjuring scoring opportunities seemingly out of thin air at times.
The Manchester City midfield metronome has been a key performer for both club and country. Thanks to De Bruyne (six goals and 12 assists) pulling the strings from midfield, Guardiola's men won their third Premier League title in four years. A year earlier, the Belgian tallied 13 goals and a record 20 assists, but City were denied a three-peat by a rampant Liverpool side.
The 30-year-old has also been a dazzling performer for Belgium, racking up an impressive tally of 22 goals and 40 assists in 84 appearances, with one goal and two assists coming at Euro 2020.
#9 Xavi Hernandez - 235
Xavi Hernandez, more commonly known only by his first name, is arguably one of the best midfielders to have graced the beautiful game.
Possessing a keen eye for exploring spaces and half spaces in the opposition half, Xavi helped create plenty of scoring opportunities for club and country during a glorious career. The 41-year-old was one of the dazzling performers in Barcelona's historic 2008-09 treble-winning campaign, conjuring 40 goal contributions (ten goals and 30 assists) in all competitions.
The two-time European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner orchestrated play in the middle of the park for club and country like none else. Though Xavi was not a proflic scorer, his ability to create goalscoring chances for teammates was worth its weight in gold.
#8 Franck Ribery - 246
Former Bayern Munich and France legend Franck Ribery has been a star performer for club and country.
The 38-year-old free agent has tallied over 80% of his assists in club football for Bayern during a glorious 12-season stint in Bavaria, where he won a continental treble and nine Bundesliga titles. In that treble-winning campaign, Ribery tallied 23 assists across competitions, only four short of his career-best tally recorded the season before.
The Frenchman was also a key performer for France, registering more than a goal contribution every two games (16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games).
#7 Cesc Fabregas - 248
Cesc Fabregas announced himself as a prodigious talent when he made his first-team debut at Arsenal at the tender age of 16 in the Gunners' historic 'invincibles' campaign in 2003-04.
Almost two decades later, the 34-year-old Spaniard currently plies his trade at AS Monaco after becoming one of only four players to rack up over a century of assists in the Premier League.
A two-time European Championship and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner, Fabregas has won three league titles and racked up close to 250 assists for club and country, in addition to scoring 140 goals.
#6 Angel Di Maria - 258
Angel Di Maria is one of the most underrated players in the game. For almost the entirety of his career, the Argentine has operated in the shadow of more illustrious teammates like Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar, to name a few.
Nevertheless, the 33-year-old has been a consistent performer for club and country over the years. Di Maria didn't score many goals, but his first for Argentina in three years helped Albiceleste win the Copa America 2021 and end their near three-decade-long trophy drought.
The first player to win the Man of the Match award in a Champions League and Copa America final, Di Maria has played his best football since joining French giants PSG in the summer of 2015.
Di Maria racked up 23 assists in all competitions in 2019-20 as PSG narrowly missed out on a continental quadruple after losing to Bayern Munich by a solitary goal in the Champions League final.
#5 Thomas Muller - 260
Thomas Muller has been one of the most consistent, if not the best, players in the game, especially in the last decade or so.
The 31-year-old, who has played his entire club career at Bayern Munich, has racked up at least ten league assists in all but one of his 12 seasons at the club following his debut campaign in 2008-09. That includes successive 21-assist league campaigns in the last two seasons.
A self-styled Ramdeuter (interpreter of space), Muller is not a conventional striker, his role ranging between that of a centre-forward and an attacking midfielder. The position is akin to a 'false nine' or 'sweeper attacker'.
Nevertheless, the ten-time Bundesliga winner, who has also won two continental trebles and the FIFA World Cup, has been a dazzling performer for club and country. In addition to his impressive tally of assists, Muller has also racked up close to 300 goals.
#4 Mesut Ozil - 267
Mesut Ozil may no longer be the player he once was, but on his day, the German was second to none in orchestrating his team's play in the middle of the park.
Like most of the other names on the list, Ozil has never been a prolific goalscorer, but he has created chances and goalscoring opportunities aplenty for both club and country.
After consecutive 15-assist seasons in the Bundesliga, Ozil registered 54 assists in three league campaigns at Real Madrid before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2013. The 2014 FIFA World Cup winner holds the record of creating the most chances in a Premier League season (2015-16), a campaign in which he recorded a career-best 19 assists.
With his powers seemingly on the wane and first-team opportunities at Arsenal drying up, Ozil moved to Fenerbahce earlier this year. The German has also been an impressive performer for Germany, racking up 23 goals and 40 assists in almost 100 appearances.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo - 270
Arguably one of the greatest players to have graced the game, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored goals and won trophies galore for club and country.
Perhaps it might come as a surprise that during a nearly two-decade long illustrious career, the 36-year-old Juventus and Portugal striker has also amassed the third-most assists by any player this century.
One of only three players on this list who has registered more goals than assists, Ronaldo is the all-time assist-provider (42) in Champions League history, a competition where he is also the all-time top-scorer.
While Ronaldo is better known for his staggering tally of 450 goals in a nine-season stint with Real Madrid, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner also racked up almost half of his career assists (132) with them.
#2 Luis Suarez - 275
Luis Suarez is one of three players to have racked up at least 270 assists for club and country since the turn of the century.
More renowned for his prolific goalscoring prowess, Suarez has also been adept in conjuring goalscoring opportunities for teammates over the years. One of only three players to register 40-goal seasons in La Liga, the Uruguayan has registered an impressive tally of 240 assists in club football and another 35 in internationals.
A continental treble winner with Barcelona, Uruguay's all-time top scorer has won five La Liga titles, the last of them coming in 2020-21 with Atletico Madrid.
#1 Lionel Messi - 358
Lionel Messi, along with Ronaldo, is one of the best players to have played the game.
Like his arch-rivals, Messi has also scored goals and won trophies galore for club and country, most recently winning the Copa America 2021 title with Argentina, his first international title.
The Argentine has racked up an astounding tally of 358 assists for club and country this century, a whopping 83 clear of the next best player (Suarez). Despite Barcelona enduring their first trophyless campaign in more than a decade last season, Messi became the first player to register 22 assists in a La Liga campaign.
Messi, who is now a free agent after his Barcelona contract ran out this summer, led his country from the front in their triumphant Copa America 2021 campaign, scoring four goals and registering five assists.
