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#3 Hakan Calhanoglu (AC Milan) - 27 goals
Hakan Calhanoglu is one of the best free-kick takers in the game right now and he possesses the technique to find the back of the net from a variety of positions. The Turkish international has been incredibly prolific from set-pieces and has a wide range of strikes in his armor.
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Calhanoglu was so good at free-kicks that during his time in Germany, where he played for second-tier club Karlsruher FC, Hamburger SV and Bayer Leverkusen, 38% of his goals came from direct free-kicks.
No one can forget the absolute peach of a free-kick he scored from near the halfway line for Bayer Leverkusen. Calhanoglu currently plies his trade for AC Milan and his overall game has improved greatly as well.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) - 56 free-kick goals
Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance from direct free-kicks is something we're starting to see less of. There was a time when Ronaldo lining up to take a free-kick, no matter how unfavourable the angle and distance, meant that the ball was likely going to end up in the back of the net.
That's exactly why he ranks so high up this list of elite footballers. Famous for popularizing the knuckle-ball, Ronaldo hardly ever tries to sidefoot the ball from dead-ball positions. Instead, he connects with his knuckles and this puts a lot of swerve and dip on the ball and when it comes off, it looks majestic.
Ronaldo has scored some absolute belters for Manchester United, Real Madrid and the Portuguese national side from free-kicks. But his last goal from a direct free-kick came in the 2019-20 season against Torino.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 56 free-kick goals
There has arguably been no footballer who has had a better relationship with the ball than Lionel Messi. Messi knows exactly how to execute stunning finishes and it's a treat to just watch him at it.
Messi equalled Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick tally on May 2nd, 2021 and he is at the top of this list for having accomplished it from fewer matches.
Lionel Messi wasn't always a free-kick taker. It's a skill he added to his arsenal over the course of the years but once he got good at it, like most things he's great at, there was hardly anyone around who could give him competition.
Some of Messi's best free-kicks have come from 30 odd yards out, like the one against Liverpool where he almost curled the ball around the wall and away from the goalkeeper. The latest addition to his collection came yesterday against Valencia.
