Lionel Messi: Best Free Kicks of His Career As He Takes Inter Miami by Storm, Videos

• Lionel Messi ranks highly among the best free-kick takers of all time
• Atletico Madrid were seemingly some of his favourite casualties during his La Liga days
• Sports Brief takes a look at some of the free kicks the World Cup winner has scored over the years

Question. Is Lionel Messi the best free-kick taker you have ever seen? If not him, then who?

There is no denying that every time Messi steps up to take a free kick, there is always a good chance that he will be wheeling away in celebration the next second.

He has been blessed with a wand of a left foot. The same foot that has blessed his fans and neutrals with impeccable displays throughout his career. Perhaps the only player who comes close to him at the moment is James Ward-Prowse.

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How many free kicks has Messi scored?

Messi has bent in free kicks in almost every competition or league he has played in. He did so in the Champions League, La Liga, World Cup, in France and heck, he has two already for Inter Miami.

Taking a free kick in itself is expertise. Ensuring that the ball has the perfect curve and elevation to go around a rising wall and bend back in time to be on target and just beyond a diving goalkeeper with outstretched arms is poetry in motion.

Do it once; you are lucky. Do it twice, it's just a coincidence. Do it thrice, you start getting our attention. But do it repeatedly, in different competitions and leagues like Messi does; you are the best there has ever been.

Among the 64 free-kick goals in his career, there are the best of the bunch. Like the one he scored against Liverpool in 2019, which was one of the best set-pieces in football's history. Or the ones he scores when his team needs a result urgently. We don't need to go back so much - he did it recently in his first game for Inter Miami.

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Best 20 Messi's free-kicks

Sports Brief has gone into the archives and dug some of the Argentine's best works. We'd strongly advise you to sit back and enjoy. And probably get some popcorn, too, cause this is pure box-office action.

1. vs Liverpool (2019)

2. vs Nigeria (2014)

3. vs Colombia (2016)

4. vs Real Madrid (2012)

5. vs Atletico Madrid (2011)

6. vs Atletico Madrid (2018)

7. vs Cruz Azul (2023)

8. vs Lille (2023)

9. vs Nice (2022)

10. vs Dynamo Kyiv (2009)

11. vs Atletico Madrid (2008)

12. vs Chile (2021)

13. vs Valencia (2021)

14. vs Villarreal (2019)

15. vs Espanyol (2019)

16. vs Real Betis (2019)

17. vs Ajax (2013)

18. vs Panama (2023)

19. vs Real Betis (2013)

20. vs FC Dallas (2023)

Worth the watch, right?

Messi's devious tactic spotted

So good are Messi's set pieces that the manager of his latest victim, FC Dallas - Nico Estévez - avers that Messi taking a free kick is almost the same as any other player taking a penalty: the likelihood of it going in is greater than him missing.

Some may ask what tricks the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner uses. While his ability on dead balls is unrivalled, a new video suggests that maybe the former Barcelona man uses underhanded tactics at times.