Lionel Messi can play the pass that opens up a defence, watch Inter Miami score a few seconds later, and end up with an assist on one statistics site but none on another. Fans comparing his career figures with Cristiano Ronaldo's may find different totals for exactly the same matches.
There's a specific reason this happens in MLS. The league sometimes credits the player who made the pass before the final ball to the scorer.
The Pass Before the Assist
Picture Messi slipping a through ball to a teammate, who cuts it back for the finish. The player making the cutback gets the primary assist. Messi may also receive a secondary assist if his pass played a significant part in creating the goal.
That's part of how MLS awards secondary assists. It isn't a reward for every pass that happens to come two touches before a goal. A sideways ball in midfield won't suddenly count because someone scores a few seconds later.
These extra credits can add up for a player who regularly starts attacking moves, particularly one who likes finding teammates between defenders rather than simply delivering the final ball.
Why Our Numbers Differ From MLS
For the main Messi and Ronaldo comparisons, we use an Opta-aligned standard assist figure. That generally credits the final qualifying pass or touch leading to a teammate's goal, with specific rules for incidents such as deflections. Secondary assists aren't added to that figure.
The assist definitions in our FAQ explain the difference. MLS may be recording an additional contribution to the same goal, which accounts for some of the variation between its totals and ours.
This becomes a problem when someone takes Messi's official MLS total and places it beside a Ronaldo figure calculated using a narrower definition. Both columns might say "assists", even though the numbers were compiled differently.
Assist Rules Matter Outside League Statistics
The difference can also come up when a goal is checked against a player-assist betting market. An MLS match report may credit two players, while the sportsbook's settlement rules recognize only one qualifying assist.
Those checking what FanDuel is offering new users will find information about promotions, but those terms won't determine whether a Messi assist qualifies in a wager. FanDuel's published Ontario soccer rules, for example, specify Opta data for assist markets.
An MLS secondary assist therefore won't automatically qualify under that standard. Anyone checking a settled player statistic needs the rules for the particular market and jurisdiction, rather than relying on the assist total displayed in a match report.
Mixing Different Leagues Can Skew a Career Total
Messi's move to Inter Miami makes the discrepancy more noticeable. His career spans leagues whose published statistics aren't always compiled in exactly the same way.
If MLS secondary assists are included in his career total while similar earlier passes in Europe are ignored, the comparison becomes uneven. Ronaldo's figures need to be calculated using the same criteria, regardless of where either player was playing.
There's good reason to keep track of those earlier passes. The ball that splits a defence can be the most difficult part of a goal, even when another player supplies a straightforward finish. Recording it separately gives that contribution some recognition without adding it to the standard assist column.
Other differences can creep in, too. Rebounds and penalties won aren't handled identically by every data provider. Competition coverage also matters. A league-only total will naturally be lower than one that includes domestic cups and international matches.
Check Which Assists Are Included
| Statistic | What’s being counted | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Standard assist | Final qualifying pass or action before a teammate scores | Useful when both players are measured under the same rules |
| MLS secondary assist | Earlier pass judged significant to the goal | Adds credit that standard assist totals exclude |
| Broader assist figures | Additional contributions defined by individual providers | May include rebounds or penalties won |
A Messi career total that includes MLS secondary assists can look impressive beside a Ronaldo figure that excludes equivalent contributions. That doesn't tell readers much about how their playmaking compares.
The easiest way to avoid the confusion is to keep standard and secondary assists in separate categories, then check which competitions each total covers. Messi's earlier passes still deserve attention, even when they don't appear in the main assist column.