Golden Boot debates get louder. Best-goals lists get more traffic. But the tournament's best passes are the ones you rewind — the moments where a player sees a picture nobody else in the stadium is seeing and then plays it. The 2026 World Cup produced a stack of them. Here are the ten best assists of the tournament, plus the creators whose fingerprints were on the whole month.
10. Frimpong to Depay — Netherlands vs Ecuador
A dying-seconds overlap that broke Ecuador's back line the one time it had held together for eighty-nine minutes. Frimpong received the ball near the touchline with two men on him, cut sharply infield, and slipped a first-time pass through a five-metre lane for Depay to slot the winner. The clock read 89:47.
9. Yıldız to Aktürkoğlu — Türkiye vs Australia
Türkiye's group-stage highlight reel had a lot of Yıldız in it. This one was the pick: a raking cross-field switch played on the half-volley, into space nobody was defending. Aktürkoğlu hit it first-time on the run. Australia's keeper barely moved.
8. Ødegaard to Sørloth — Norway vs France (Group I)
One of the tournament-defining upset moments. France pushed the entire back four to the halfway line and Ødegaard punished it, gliding a floated ball over the top with the outside of his right foot. Sørloth took it in stride and finished across goal. Norway went on to top the group, and that pass was the reason the football world started paying attention.
7. De Bruyne to Doku — Belgium vs Egypt
De Bruyne's tournament was a curious thing — a lot of tired possession, then a moment every twenty minutes that reminded you why he is one of the greatest passers of his generation. This was that moment: a bending, whipped through-ball from thirty-five yards that curved between the centre-back and full-back and dropped into Doku's run on the byline.
6. Foden to Kane — England vs Netherlands (Semifinal)
Foden had been quiet for an hour of an ugly semifinal. Then he took the ball on the half-turn near halfway, held off two challenges, and slid a threaded pass around van Dijk's blind side. Kane hit it low and hard — 1-0, and effectively the goal that put England in the final.
5. Bellingham to Saka — England vs Croatia (Group L)
The outside-of-the-boot pass with which everyone announced that England's system had actually clicked. Bellingham received under pressure, opened his hips as if to switch, then punched a bending pass off the outside of his right foot into a lane Croatia had left half-open for maybe two seconds. Saka finished first-time. The stadium noise on the assist was louder than on the goal.
4. Yamal to Morata — Spain vs Belgium (Group H)
At 18, Lamine Yamal was the tournament's youngest creator and its most fearless. This assist was pure teenage nerve: a nutmeg on the touchline on the recovering full-back, a first-touch cut inside, and a low scooped pass across the six-yard box that Morata could not miss. The whole sequence lasted three seconds.
3. Bellingham to Kane — England vs Portugal (Quarter-Final)
The pass that took Portugal out. Extra time, England chasing, Portugal set up in a two-banks-of-four block. Bellingham drove at the block, drew four defenders, and rolled a disguised no-look pass to his right into a pocket Kane had opened by pulling short. Kane finished across the keeper. It is the reason Bellingham was in every Ballon d'Or top three ballot the following week.
2. Pedri to Yamal — Spain vs Norway (Semifinal)
The pass of the tournament in the semifinal that decided the tournament. Pedri received on the half-turn twenty-five yards out, shaped as if to shoot, then rolled the softest wall pass around the heel of a Norway midfielder and directly into the run Yamal had timed to the millisecond. Yamal finished into the far corner. Norway's entire midfield turned as one and knew the game was over.
1. Pedri to Morata — Spain vs England (Final)
Second half, MetLife, tied game, Spain building slowly on the left. Pedri took the ball two yards inside the England half, shaped once as if to switch, then chipped — genuinely chipped, not lofted — a first-time pass over three defenders and into the exact patch of grass Morata's diagonal run was arriving at. Morata volleyed home. It won the World Cup. It also won every replay-of-the-tournament ranking on every major outlet inside twenty-four hours. There is no other candidate for the number one spot.
Volume leaders vs quality leaders
Two lists rarely agree. The chances-created table (see chart above) is topped by Pedri, Bellingham and De Bruyne — the players who kept creating for six or seven matches without a bad game. But the "best assist" list is skewed toward knockout football, where the margins are finer and the passes have to be more perfect. Ødegaard and Yıldız, for instance, played fewer knockout minutes and so appear lower here than their overall tournament quality deserves.
The forgotten assist king: set pieces
- Trent Alexander-Arnold registered three assists from corners across England's knockout run — none of them highlight-reel enough to make the top ten above, all of them decisive.
- Kimmich (Germany) had two set-piece assists in the group stage before Germany's exit.
- Bruno Fernandes (Portugal) chipped in with a direct free-kick assist in the round of 32.
The tournament reinforced a pattern that has hardened over the last five years: elite set-piece delivery is now a top-two team differentiator, and the countries that treat corners and free-kicks as choreography rather than hope keep separating themselves.
FAQ
Who created the most chances at World Cup 2026? Pedri, with 42 chances created across Spain's seven matches. He also finished top of the tournament in through-balls.
Who won the World Cup 2026 assist charts? Pedri and Bellingham finished tied at the top of the raw assist column. Pedri's assist tally included the winning pass in the final.
Was there a specific World Cup 2026 assists award? No official standalone assists prize exists. Pedri's creative output was central to his Golden Ball win.
For more from the tournament, see our World Cup coverage index, and check today's soccer fixtures for the post-tournament friendlies and club pre-season action starting up this week.