Of many things, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are also known for their immaculate free-kicks, having scored a ton of them during their illustrious careers.
Both talismanic stars have now been named among the greatest free-kick takers in history in an online poll.
Listicle website The Top Tens ran an interactive list titled 'Best Free Kick Takers in Football (Soccer)' where fans could cast their votes.
Former Brazil legend and dead-ball specialist Juninho Pernambucano took the top spot with 15 percent of the votes, having struck a record 77 free-kicks.
While David Beckham came in second, Ronaldo was behind him as the third-best free-kick taker of all-time with nine percent of the votes, although his set-piece prowess has declined in recent years.
He's struck 58 free-kicks in his career, including 10 with the Portugal national team. Ronaldo's latest effort from the dead ball came last month against Norwich City in the Premier League when the 37-year-old brought up his hat-trick.
It brought him level with his arch-rival Messi, who led the count for most free-kicks among active players for over a year. The Argentine has been ranked in ninth position on the list by fans, with only three percent of fans voting for him.
All 50 of the Argentine's free-kick goals at club level have come with Barcelona as he's yet to open his free-kick account in PSG colors.
Ronaldo, meanwhile, has struck a free-kick with all his clubs except Sporting CP - netting 32 times with Los Blancos, another 15 with United and just one with Juventus.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also holds the record for most free-kicks in the Champions League with 12.
Roberto Carlos and Diego Maradona made the cut into the top five, while Sinisa Mihajlovic, Ronaldinho and Steven Gerrard were all ranked above Messi.
Juventus legend Andrea Pirlo completed the top 10 list. More legends such as Zico, Rivaldo, Diego Forlan, Wesley Sneijder, Ryan Giggs and Shensuke Nakamura all feature in the top 25.
Messi and Ronaldo hailed for their free-kick prowess
Fans who voted for the extraterrestrial duo of Messi and Ronaldo have also left high praise in the comments for them.
Ronaldo has been hailed for being "simply prolific when it comes to set pieces," while one fan even called him "the man" for free-kicks and "deserving to be [at] number 1".
Messi has also treated fans with some of the most eye-catching set-piece goals, for which they've called him a "magician," "game changer" and even the "greatest player of all time".
Vuuciknouy
827
people who watched Ronaldo in Manchester united from 2003 to 2009 , watched in Real Madrid from 2009 to 2017 Would actually have respect for what he has done & is doing, Am not saying messi isn't equally a great player but Ronaldo has been incredible through out his career, in different aspect of the game depending on the league & teams & competition.
Jucnortyz
677
I use to insult him please forgive me fans he has always prove me wrong he's the greatest I have watched
jotsamikael
612
it is obvious which is better
Nandha77
535
From 2018 to 2022, Messi and Ronaldo have scored 22 Free kicks for Clubs Combined... π± Messi Scored 21 and Ronaldo Scored 1 π
Nandha77
507
When Messi Takes a Free kick ππ₯π
Adman
485
PraveenVm
436
βͺοΈLmao. First of all YOU LOST the original argument, not me. You literally had to bend and AGREE to my point of how GOALS are the most important aspect of football... You initially argued against that, but had to change your view when i backed you into a corner with valid points. βͺοΈ And secondly lol; Isn't that the whole point? You have just once again shot yourself in the foot. Messi has been wasting freekicks for a whole year, and your desperate defence to that was "He still has the most accurate freekick shots coz he's hit the bar a number of times" ? lol. I am pretty sure those number of times are not even up to 5, meaning in other occasions he's either completely missed the target ( like the one he most recently shot to the sky) struck the wall, or had it saved". And that FACT alone throws your entire argument out the window. Me even giving you 190 out of 200 bars to reference your "bars idea" was even generous coz Messi hasn't hit the bar alot of times. and NO, Messi hasn't scored more. Heck He hasn't scored any the whole year in question ffs! and that's what the whole arguement was about... It was never about their entire career , but the fact you were still claiming Messi is still the best freekick taker despite not scoring for a whole year. You trying here now to make it about their entire career is just you once again bending the narrative to suit your bias lol, it pathetic. You know you lost, hence why you've spent most the argument bending narratives and putting words in people's mouths. It's totally pathetic. βͺοΈAnd nah, i wasn't thinking about either Ronaldo or Messi when i made that reference. I wasn't thinking about anyone at all in fact. I was only thinking about the discussion we was having, about what you said that Messi was still the best / most accurate freekick taker despite not scoring for a year simply coz he's hit the bar a number of times. That reference was simply to show you how poor your reasoning was... And it choked you even when asked who you'd chose between one who's scored more and one who's hit the bar more... Ridiculous.
So Messi is a bad fk taker, because he failed to score one in over a year π€£π€£π€£. LoL, with that same logic Ronaldo is a pathetic fk taker, because he failed to score one in over 3 years πππ. One goal due to gk error won't change any of this. Lol, I thought you were somewhat reasonable, now you're completely acting dumb. Ronaldo is the greatest fk taker because he scored 2 fk in 3 years π€£π€£π€£. Lol, he only comes into the argument when considering the all time career, because he scored a lot only many years back. In recent years form no one comes close to Messi. Take for example fk scored from 2017, Ronaldo is not even in the top 10 list, even all football released a list yesterday to shut down you, go and check. Messi is the no.1 in that, and you're man ward Prowse is 2nd. Surprised, huh! And no I never said that goals are not important..Don't put words into my mouth. I said goals are not the only important thing in football. Goals are the most important, but they're not the only important thing to win games. Goals are the most important, but GOALSCORERS are not the most important. Goalscorers are equally important as a defender, midfielder and gk. That's my point.
YormGokah
411
No long talk
fizbizzie
405
1 goal in 231 attempts and ranks higher than Messi? that's because cr5 fan-girls are voting.. [Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
gm11
346
Messi is better than Ronaldo at free kicks and if you say differently your actually stupid, Messi has more goals from free kicks than Ronaldo, Ronaldo does the knuckle ball which it hit and hope π thats why majority of Ronaldo free kicks hit the wall or go over π
Govind_10
253
We all knew Messi is the GOAT even Ronaldo fanboys also knew but they can't tell because they are Ronaldo's A*slicker
Carlosghost99
130
When you talk of freekick you talk of power, placement, intelligence and vision Ronaldoβs freekick is all about power that is why he has scored more further distance freekick than messi and when you talk of power free kick takers you see the likes of roberto carlos, beckham and so on But messiβs free kick is more about itβs placement, vision and angle which is what makes messiβs free kick unique, the level of intelligence he puts for a freekick is spectacular and i greatly disagree that ronaldo is a greater free kick taker than messi because if he was heβs free kicks would have been crossing the wall but it doesnβt the most perfect free kick Iβve seen ronaldo take was against spain in the world cup 2018 it had everything power, curve, placement but you only see him score things like that once in a while but messi does it everytime which is why i strongly disagree Iβm not trying to criticize anybody or say one is better than one because I canβt compare messi and ronaldo they are both the best players in football history ronaldo scores goals while if messi doesnβt score he creates opportunities for goals in other words he assists, theyβve both created records each for goal scoring and assisting so you canβt criticize the other. Yes we all know messi hasnβt done well so far this season but if you criticize messi because of goals you also have to criticize ronaldo for him not creating assists. I hope they enjoy the remaining years of there career.
yitbdmnost
80
"πͺππ¬ ππ¦ π ππ¦π¦π ππ«π£πππ§ππ π§π’ π¦ππ’π₯π π§ππ π¦ππ π ππ π’π¨π‘π§ π’π ππ’πππ¦ ππ¦ π₯π’π‘ππππ’ ππ¨π§ π₯π’π‘ππππ’ ππ¦π‘βπ§ ππ«π£πππ§ππ π§π’ ππ ππ¦ ππ’π’π π π£πππ¬π ππππ₯ ππ¦ π ππ¦π¦π"βοΈ βοΈRonaldo has 13 assists in his last 3 seasons. Messi has 50 assists in his last 3 seasons. Ronaldo hasn't had more G/As since the 15/16 season. No one is talking about it, where everyone is busy slandering Leo Messi for his poor goalscoring form. So, why is Messi expected to score the same amount of goals as Ronaldo but Ronaldo isnβt expected to be as good a playmaker as Messi?! Because throughout his life the "multidimensional player" Lionel Messi has done the art of football way better than Ronaldo. The expectations are always higher for him, football fans always want him to do everything, "different standards"! But, they have to understand reality doesn't work like that. For Ronaldo and Ronaldo FC they always knew footballing-wise they can't compete with Leo, so they keep finding other ways where they can present themselves as if they are competing & winning the debate. Ronaldo becomes more selfish and started focusing on increasing his goalscoring stats. Where Ronaldo FC(cancerous part) started to brag more, more cancerous manipulative post-comments, more followers etc. They know for them there is nothing to lose, so, the pressure on them is always lower. That's why they are not so sensitive and fragile to troll posts and comments like Messi FC. In that sense, the job of Messi FC is a little bit harder. But, it's also for the reason that Ronaldo FC's (blind) love for Ronaldo is greater than that of Messi FC. Imagine a limited showing of footballing art(*compare to Messi's, don't get me wrong, Ronaldo also is a top player) and lots of outside Football activities Ronaldo was able to hallucinate so many of them, their (blind) love must be higher. Another reason is that Messi makes the job of his fans easier in the sense that he dominated all the aspects of football, which makes a large quantity of Messi fans glory-hunters(similar to some Real Madrid fans, extremely normal). Moreover, Messi is rarely involved in outside Football activities to engage fans. This dark-negative approach(all the fake quotes, fake stats, fake ideas, etc) of Ronaldo and Ronaldo FC will eventually hunt them. Because in the history of mankind this "deceiving people method" never worked in a long run. They unintentionally just showing why Messi is the better player, and with the growth of modern football data analytics, people will eventually understand this. All they right now are doing is "scoring own goals which will be added to the scoreboard later". (βΉοΈNote: Don't know if I have expressed it in the right way or not, but, it's just my opinion which was in my mind for a long time and I think many of you can relate. If anyone feels offended, you can skip the post, no need to cry about it. Peace.) #zirkay
Thelonehunter
16
From 2018 to 2022, Messi and Ronaldo have scored 22 Free kicks for Clubs Combined... π± Messi Scored 21 and Ronaldo Scored 1 π
[image]
Please donβt show us your stupidity π₯±
jotsamikael
16
show me your best
[image]
neebelrsty
13
From 2018 to 2022, Messi and Ronaldo have scored 22 Free kicks for Clubs Combined... π± Messi Scored 21 and Ronaldo Scored 1 π
[image]
And how many has Messi scored from 2004 to 2018 compared to Ronaldo tooβ¦
pacabcopuz
9
it is obvious which is better
[image]
show me your best
stormlegend4321
8
When Messi Takes a Free kick ππ₯π
[image]
isn't it quite obvious to make such facial expression if there is a ball kicked hit right on front of u....... r u like a dΓ»mb kid or something?? just because a few players made facial expressions, that means pe$$i is the best free-kick taker[Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
Thelonehunter
8
Please donβt show us your stupidity π₯±
Messi is a great free kick taker but all his goals have been confined to as smaller area but Ronaldo man he can hit the ball from anywhere he is literally on π₯
Vuuciknouy
8
Am a whole big Ronaldo fan but actually bro, Messi is good at free kicks than Ronaldo. Ronaldo do have brilliant master class free kicks goals, and important ones than Messi, yes itβs true. But logically when ranking Messi free kick, itβs not power play, itβs placement, as it moves in right and dangerous positions for possible goals thatβs why Messi has that edge over Ronaldo in free kicks but not because of the amount of free kicks scored
u are funny, are u talking about scoring freekick or scoring beautiful freekick? by the way are u sure u watched Ronaldo freekicks from united to Madrid? are u sure?