Of many things, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have also been amazing at free-kicks. Both the GOATs have struck a handful of goals from such set-piece situations throughout their careers for club and country.
In a ranking published by FourFourTwo (h/t SPORTbible), Ronaldo was placed 19th on the list of 25 best free-kick takers of all-time. The 41-year-old has struck a staggering 65 goals from free-kicks in his prolific career.
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His remarkable tally includes 15 for Portugal, including a sensational one against Spain at the 2018 FIFA World Cup to bring up his hat-trick, 14 for Manchester United, 30 in Real Madrid colors, one for Juventus and now five for Al-Nassr.
With his latest free-kick against Damac in May 2026, Cristiano Ronaldo pulled level with David Beckham for the total number of goals from the set-piece, but where does his arch-rival Lionel Messi rank?
The Argentine great is known for having scored some of the greatest free-kick goals in modern history and his overall tally currently stands at 71. He is placed fifth in the all-time rankings by FourFourTwo.
Brazilian legend Juninho Pernambucano has been named as the greatest free-kick taker of all time, perhaps for his technique and conversion rate, putting away 77 of them during his career.
Dutch legend Ronald Koeman is next on the list followed by Sinisa Mihajlovic. Former Brazil star Zico, who holds the record for most free-kick goals with 101, also ranks ahead of Lionel Messi in fourth while his Argentine compatriot Diego Maradona also makes the cut inside the top six.
The list also features a few other big names such as Zinedine Zidane on 25th, dead-ball specialist Andrea Pirlo taking up 17th spot and Brazilian legends Ronaldinho and Pele on 10th and 12th respectively.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi looking bag a free-kick goal at the 2026 FIFA World Cup
Both the GOATs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, are off the mark at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with the Portuguese ace netting twice and the Argentine leading the scoring charts with five goals.
However, both are yet to score from a free-kick. In fact, there have been only three direct goals from a free-kick so far: Canada’s Nathan Saliba vs Qatar, Cape Verde’s Kevin Pina vs Uruguay and Portugal’s Nuno Mendes vs Uzbekistan.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have accounted for just one goal each from a direct free-kick at the FIFA World Cups: Ronaldo against Spain in the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stages and Messi scoring one four years earlier against Nigeria in the first round.
Edited by Nived Zenith
