Summary
Messi is one of the best free-kick takers, scoring 66 goals, averaging one every 16.5 matches.
Diego Maradona helped Messi become a free-kick specialist in 2009.
Two La Masia players were better at free-kicks than Messi but did not find success in their football careers.
When it comes to the greatest free-kick takers in football history, Lionel Messi undoubtedly ranks near the very top. In fact, some might argue he is the best the sport has ever seen in this department. For the former Barcelona forward, a free-kick can be almost as reliable as a penalty - perhaps even more so, given his somewhat inconsistent record from the spot. The sheer number of free-kicks he has converted over the years is mind-blowing.
Across his career, the Argentine wizard has scored 66 total free-kick goals. This equates to scoring one every 16.5 matches for club and country on average. Though his long-term adversary Cristiano Ronaldo might have the more memorable technique - as he can be seen huffing and puffing his way to the deadball - Messi is third on the all-time list of free-kick goalscorers, above the Portugal legend.
But Messi hasn’t always been a free-kick specialist, it turns out. Diego Maradona was the man who is often credited with helping Messi become a free-kick master back in 2009, following a frustrating training session with the Argentina national team. "I saw Diego coming, he took him by the shoulder and said: 'Little Leo, little Leo, come here, man. Let's try it again.' It was like a teacher with his pupil," Maradona’s assistant, Fernando Signorini, was quoted as telling La Nacion by Goal.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and James Ward-Prowse taking free-kicks Related
20 Best Free-Kick Takers in World Football Right Now [Ranked]
Lionel Messi and James Ward-Prowse rank among the best free-kick takers in world football in 2025.
Two Players Were Better Than Messi at Free-Kicks at La Masia
Neither turned out to be better footballers than the World Cup winner though
Lionel Messi takes a free-kick
It seems his lessons with Maradona may have been a turning point for Messi who, remarkably, wasn’t even one of the top two free-kick takers when he was in Barcelona’s famed La Masia youth academy.
According to Roger Giribet, an ex-teammate of Messi’s in Barca’s youth system, two players were ahead of the Argentine for set-pieces. He said, as per GOAL:
"Victor Vazquez, who was amazing, and the left-footed Juanjo Clausi used to take them. Messi almost never."
Once upon a time, this duo may have been able to boast about being better at Messi at one particular skill, but what became of their careers?
Victor Vazquez
Played three times for Barcelona's first-team
Victor Vazquez
Vazquez, who is six months older than Messi, played three times for Barcelona’s first team but, ultimately, wasn’t quite good enough and was offloaded to Club Brugge by Pep Guardiola in 2011. However, he can at least boast that he scored one senior goal for the Catalan giants, netting against Rubin Kazan in the Champions League.
The former Spain Under-16 international spent four years in Belgium before moving on to Cruz Azul in Mexico in 2016. He then had a year with Toronto FC before moving on to Qatar-based Al-Arabi and Umm Salal. Stints then followed at LA Galaxy and Toronto FC, before he wound down his career in India in 2024 with East Bengal and in Andorra with Santa Coloma.
Vazquez hadn't lost his free-kick ability since leaving Camp Nou. He scored two free-kicks for Club Brugge in a 2-2 draw against Anderlecht during the 2014-15 campaign. And he also netted this under-the-wall free-kick while playing for Toronto against Columbus Crew in 2017. Watch the goal below:
“It’s an amazing goal, everybody says ‘genius’, but in my mind it’s because all the walls are jumping,” the Spaniard said after scoring that goal. “Now, if I have a free-kick, they for sure will not jump. I will try another thing because I’m always thinking.”
Juanjo Clausi
The Spaniard's career never really got going
Unlike Vazquez, Clausi’s career never really took off, unfortunately. The forward, who is a few weeks younger than Messi, played for Barcelona’s youth team up to Under-19 level before being offloaded to Catarroja CF in July 2006. The former La Masia starlet has spent his career playing in Spain’s lower leagues and is currently on the books of Recambios Colon, who compete in Spain’s eighth tier.
According to Planet Football, Clausi begun studying electromechanical maintenance in 2015 and attributed his slide down the divisions on his lack of a reliable agent. But like Vazquez, Clausi also retained his ability to strike a sweet free-kick, as the video below shows:
Furthermore, he will always have the honour of saying that he grew up playing alongside the greatest player of all time. “When he (Messi) came we were amazed to see that such a small boy had that quality,” Clausi is quoted as telling Infobae in 2016. “In fact, I remember that when he arrived, he was taken down to Infant B because of his height, but soon after he was taken with us, it was phenomenal.”
In another interview with YoSoyNoticia, Clausi reminisced about winning a youth tournament in Italy while being coached by the late Tito Vilanova:
“I was the top scorer and Messi was chosen as the best player.
He continued: “I keep that picture of the two of us posing with the trophy, and now see where Leo is and know that I could share that moment with him…not everyone can say that.”
All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt (correct as of 28/03/2025)