Lionel Messi Equals Pele's Record for Second-Most Career Free-Kick Goals

Florida. Two giants of international football, Lionel Messi and Brazilian legend Pel the men's footballer with the most free-kick goals.

Messi managed to equal Pel the record in the Major League Soccer match between Inter Miami and Orlando City this morning.

Messi scored an excellent goal from a free-kick in the injury time of the second half, securing a 4-2 victory for Miami. This goal was the 70th free-kick goal of Messi's career, placing him jointly in second place on the list of top free-kick scorers in men's football history. Pel is also in second place. Juninho from Brazil is at the top of this list, having scored a total of 77 goals.

Following Messi and Pel the Brazilian legend Ronaldinho and Victor Legrotaglie are jointly in third place, both having scored 66 goals.

Meanwhile, Messi's long-time rival Cristiano Ronaldo lags behind in the free-kick goal race. Ronaldo has scored 64 free-kick goals to date. Ronaldo's last free-kick goal came in August 2024 when Al Nassr defeated Al Feiha 4-1.