It’s impossible to talk about top free kicks goal scorers without mentioning the Argentina captain Messi. Lionel Messi is the leading free kick goal scorer with four more goals than Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo who is a prominent rival of Lionel Messi continues to compete with him in this list of most free kicks goals as well. Lionel Messi’s 33rd minute free kick against Chile in a 1-1 draw at the Copa America on June 15, 2021 took Argentina ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The undisputed player Messi is one of the greatest footballers in the world. He has a lot of firsts to his name which now also include the record for most free kick goal. On June 15, 2021, Messi scored his 57th goal for his club and country. Soon after this goal, Messi gave a Man of the Match performance by scoring once and assisting twice in his team’s 3-0 win over Ecuador in the quarter-final of Copa America 2021. 
Lionel Messi leads the free kick goals
In September 2022, before the 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar, Lionel Messi scored another memorable free kick goal in Argentina’s 3-0 win over Jamaica in an international friendly match at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey.
In the same year, one month after scoring that free kick, he netted another mesmerizing free kick for Paris Saint-Germain in their 2-1 win over OGC Nice in the Ligue 1 in October (season 2022-23).
After scoring two back to back free kicks, the 35 years old Argentinian superstar added to his tally taking it to 60 free kick goals. Surprisingly, the great forward scored 50 of 60 free kicks for Barcelona, one for his current club Paris Saint-Germain and the rest of nine for his national team Argentina.
Messi’s score of 60 free kick goals is just two goals behind Diego Maradona who has a total of 62 free kick goals. However, Maradona himself is not the top player with most free kick goals as the number is considerably lower than former Lyon and Brazil midfielder, Juninho Pernambucano who is widely known for having most free kick goals to his name in football history.
Who has the most Free Kick Goals?
Though Messi is one of the leading free kick goal scorers, he doesn’t have the most free kick goals in football history. The renowned Brazilian professional footballer Juninho Pernambucano is widely regarded as the god of free kick with most free kick goals. He has a total of 77 goals to his name.
Messi and Ronaldo might be the leading free kick winners in modern days but they are not even placed in the top 5 ranks of the list of most free kick goals. The all time football legends like Pele, Ronaldinho, David Beckham, etc are spotted as the top free kick goal scorers in the history of football.
| Rank | Player | Country | Free kick goals |
| 1 | Juninho Pernambucano | Brazil | 77 |
| 2 | Pele | Brazil | 70 |
| 3 | Victor Legrotaglie | Argentina | 66 |
| 4 | Ronaldinho | Brazil | 66 |
| 5 | David Beckham | England | 65 |
| 6 | Diego Maradona | Argentina | 62 |
| 7 | Zico | Brazil | 62 |
| 8 | Ronald Koeman | Netherlands | 60 |
| 9 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 60 |
| 10 | Marcelinho Carioca | Brazil | 59 |
| 11 | Rodrigo Ceni | Brazil | 59 |
1. Juninho Pernambucano
With a total of 77 free kick goals, Juninho Pernambucano has proved that he is the greatest free kick winner of all time. When it comes to stealing scores from a dead ball, Juninho Pernambucano is best to consider. The former Olympique Lyonnais player is also known as the Magnificent 7. Besides, he is also known to invent knuckle ball technique shoots as well.
2. Pele
The Greatest Footballer of all time and the king of Football, Pele is the player with second most free kick goals (70). Apart from dribbling, finishing and ball control, he also had a great talent of turning dead balls into goals. His ability to bend the ball both ways led him here as second top free kick taker in the football history. Pele’s immense game knowledge outthinks the goal keeper and that’s his key of scoring free kicks.
3. Victor Legrotaglie
With a bunch of 66 free kick goals, the Argentine professional footballer is not just a player with most free kick goals but one of the best. Victor is one of the greatest footballers in Mandoza Football and he used to be the football superstar in 1970s. With his invincible shooting abilities, he succeeded in scoring 12 Olympic goals for his country. In his honour, a stadium is also named after him.
4. Ronaldinho
The miraculously talented and brilliant Brazilian Footballer comes in fourth place with 66 free kick goals. It’s not surprising to see him here as Brazilians continue their legacy to make it to every single nomination. An interesting fact about Ronaldinho is that he always played amazing from any position. There is scarcely a skill that he doesn’t posses.
5. David Beckham
David might be the fifth player with most free kick goals in football history but the first to have most goals in the Premier League. He holds a record for 65 free kick goals. His ability is defined by the popularity of the phrase, “Bend it like Beckham”. It shows how people idealise him as a perfect football Footballer. Beckham’s free kick to take England to the FIFA World Cup 2002 is still celebrated as the best moments in English Football.
6. Diego Maradona
It’s not the first time that we hear his name. Diego Maradona is one of the most popular and greatest legends of Argentina. He is one of the best names in the history winning 20% of his career goals through free kick. Maradona has scored a total of 62 free kick goals in his career making him one of the top ten free kick takers of all time. One of his most cherished free kick is the one against Juventus for Napoli and this is known as “Divine free kick”.
7. Zico
Apparently, the Brazilian legend has to be here with a record of 62 free kick goals to his name. He was considered the king of football of his own generation. Known for his accurate shooting abilities, Zico is regarded as one of the world’s best players of the 1970s and 1980s. The Brazilian midfielder also maintained quite good accuracy with his Kicks. Besides, he was also popular for his languid run-up in his era.
8. Ronald Koeman
Ronald Koeman, the Barcelona former footballer as well as manager is considered as one of the highest scoring defenders of all time. Along with his 60 free kick goal, Koeman had quite a cherishable and successful career. Once a part of club Ajax, Koeman’s 25% of his overall career goals are free kicks. Apart from top free kick taker, he is also one of the highest scoring defenders of his generation with 215 goals in total.
9. Lionel Messi
Defeating his Portuguese rival, the Argentine legend has occupied the spot as one of the top ten free kick takers with 60 goals. He is a little far from Ronaldo though he beats him in Champions league score. Since the last few years, it’s hardly been possible for any football top 10 list to not include Messi. He is the greatest footballer the world has ever seen. His prolific career is full of achievements from league titles to ballon d’or awards.
The former PSG player turned Ronaldo down in this race after making the number 60. Out of which, he scored 51 for his club and 9 for his country. Interestingly, the global superstar has an average of 1 kick per 16.5 matches. It speaks for his accuracy with the dead ball.
10. Rogerio Ceni
You must have expected Ronaldo after Messi but no, the former goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni is the tenth top free kick taker. He has scored a total of 59 free kick goal in his entire career. Astonishingly, Ceni was a goal keeper at his time and he is now considered one of the highest scoring goalkeepers in football history. He has scored a total of 131 goals in his career of over 25 years spending most of his time with Sao Paulo.
