Top 10: Most Free-kick Goals In Football History (Updated)

Free kicks or set pieces are one of the most effective methods to score a goal. However, it is also the hardest thing in football. All betting sites will offer you long odds on a free kick being scored. Bet it from outside the box or 30 yards from the box, free-kicks are one of the most beautiful things to watch in football when done correctly. In this article, today we will list the player with the most free-kick goals in football history. You can also find sports betting on the Bluechip Casino website.

Who has scored the most free-kick goals?

This is a regular question asked in football quizzes. To give your answer it is Juninho Pernambucano from Brazil who has scored the most free-kick goals. He has scored 77 free-kick goals in his career.

Most Free-Kick Goals: Messi or Ronaldo?

Whenever one discusses any football record, you can not leave Messi and Ronaldo out of it. At least, the fans can not leave it out. So, who has scored the most free-kick goals? Messi or Ronaldo?

Lionel Messi has overtaken Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of the most free-kick goals scored. Messi now has 66 free-kick goals, whereas Cristiano has 64 free-kick goals.

Read Also: Messi vs Ronaldo: Longest goal-scoring streak

If we break down the records of both Messi and Ronaldo- Messi has only 5 Champions League goals from the dead ball and Ronaldo has 12. Messi has scored 55 free-kick goals in his club career while Ronaldo has 53 against his name.

Read Also: 10 Most FA Cup Winners List: FA cup in detail

Most Free-kick goals in the Premier League

The Premier League is said to be one of the toughest places to play football. Many greats have failed in the premier league, however many have flourished in the league as a legend of the game.

David Beckham has scored the most goals by free-kick in Premier League history. He has scored as many as 18 times from the dead ball in his Premier League career.

Here is the list of players with the most free-kick goals in the Premier League-

1. David Beckham - 18 goals
2. James Ward-Prowse - 17 goals
3. Cristiano Ronaldo - 12 goals
4. Thierry Henry - 12 goals
5. Gianfranco Zola - 12 goals

Read Also: Most Free-Kick Goals In Premier League

Top 10: Most Free-kick Goals In Football History

#1 Juninho Pernambucano - 77 free-kick goals

Known as the magnificent 7, Juninho was the best when it came to scoring from a dead-ball situation. The former Olympique Lyonnais legend and mid-fielder scored as many as 77 goals from set-pieces. Juninho is considered the greatest free-kick taker of all time. He was also the inventor of the knuckle-ball technique shoots as well.

#2 Pele - 70 free-kick goals

The king of football, Pele has scored 70 goals from set pieces. Pele could bend the ball both ways with fierce power. Moreover, his immense game knowledge to out-think the goalkeeper helped him net the ball more often than not.

#3 Víctor Legrotaglie - 66 free-kick goals

The Argentine from the 1970s is considered to be the greatest player in Mendoza football. Along with his stunning shooting ability, Victor was known for his 12 Olympic Goals for Argentina as well. There is a stadium named after him in Argentina.

Play Quiz: Champions League Quiz

#4 Ronaldinho- 66 free-kick goals

The magician from Brazil was brilliant from any position. Ronaldinho had everything as a footballer. Hence, having the skill to net the ball from e a distance was also in his armoury. The Brazilian legend scored 66 goals from set-pieces in his career.

Also Read: Top 10 highest scoring midfielders in the 21st century: Football facts

#5 Lionel Messi: 66 Free-kick goals

There is hardly any football top 10 attacking list or records where you will not find the Argentine maestro named Lionel Messi. Although, before 2014, Messi was not considered as prolific from the dead ball, he has just proved everyone wrong with his free-kick record since then.

Till now the Argentinian legend has scored 66 free-kick goals. 55 of those have come for the clubs he has played and 9 for Argentina. More than that, Messi now has scored a free-kick in every 16.3 match, which speaks volumes for his accuracy from the deadball position.

#6 David Beckham: 65 Free-kick goals

The famous phrase, "Bend it like Beckham" suggests how good Beckham was when it came to scoring from a free-kick. Beckham scored 65 goals from set-pieces in his career. His free-kick to take England to the 2002 FIFA World Cup is still cherished as one of the best moments in English football.

Read Also: Erling Haaland: Top 10 fastest to 20 UEFA Champions League goals

#7 Cristiano Ronaldo - 64 free-kick goals

With his latest free-kick goal in the Saudi Pro League 2024 against Al-Fayha FC, Ronaldo now has moved to the number seven position in the most free-kick goals list. The Portuguese legend now has 64 free-kick goals against his name. With this free-kick goal, Ronaldo now has scored a free-kick goal every season since 2003-04.

Ronaldo till now has scored 53 free-kick goals for the clubs he has featured for and 11 for his national team Portugal. He now has scored a free-kick in every 19.3 games.

#8 Diego Maradona- 62 free-kick goals

The legend of Argentine football is one of the best in the history of the game. Maradona scored nearly 20% of his career goals with free-kicks. His free-kick against Juventus for Napoli is known as the 'Divine Free-Kick'. Diego scored 62 goals from set pieces in his career.

#9 Zico - 62 free-kick goals

Brazilian legend Zico scored 62 free-kick goals in his career. He was very accurate in his shooting skills. Zico is considered one of the world's best players of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The attacking midfielder was very accurate with his kicks. Along with his accuracy, his languid run-up was very famous in his era.

Read Also: Defenders who won Ballon d'Or award

#10 Ronald Koeman- 60 goals

The former Barcelona player and manager is known as one of the highest-scoring defenders of all time. The Dutch defensive midfielder also had his share of success with Ajax. Koeman has scored nearly 25% of his goals with free-kicks. He is one of the high-scoring defenders in his era. Koeman scored 215 goals in his career.

#11 Rogerio Ceni - 59 goals

To the shock of everyone, Ceni was a goalkeeper and he has scored 59 goals from dead-ball situations in his career. Ceni is the highest-scoring goalkeeper in the history of the game. He has scored 131 goals in his career. Except for one goal, all of them came from penalties and free-kicks. The Brazilian played for 25 years, most of that for São Paulo.

Read Also: Goals by Goalkeepers: Top 5 Highest scoring goalkeepers

12. Marcelinho Carioca: 59 goals

= #11 Marcelinho Carioca- 59 goals

Marcelinho is nicknamed "Pé-de-Anjo" for his accuracy with free-kicks. The attacking midfielder from Brazil has collected more trophies with Corinthians than any other player in their history. However, Marcelinho failed to feature in any World Cup matches for Brazil. Marcelinho has 505 goals in his career.

Note: The stats are updated till 24/3/2023