How Lionel Messi consistently makes direct free kicks feel like penalties

New York Times

20-06-2025

Free kicks on the edge of the box always get fans leaning forward in their seats but when Lionel Messi is taking them, the excitement is amplified.
The roar that came after his collision with Porto midfielder Ze Pedro on Thursday was deemed a foul belied the modest crowd of 31,783 inside the 72,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
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This wasn't just anticipation, it was expectation. Former Scotland international Don Hutchison, commentating on DAZN's global feed, captured the mood: 'I'm calling goal, I fancy him.'
And neither Hutchison nor the millions watching were left disappointed, as Messi curled his strike into the top right-hand corner past a despairing Claudio Ramos.
Languages may differ, but the reaction's the same:👀🔥MESSI. WORLDIE. LEGEND.
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Few players stir such excitement in fans, and such inevitable dread in defenders, when standing over a dead ball. Positioned just three metres to the right of the penalty spot and 10 metres back, the free kick felt more like a penalty, and with Messi standing over it, the instinct was to treat it as one. DAZN pundit Shay Given, the former Newcastle goalkeeper, made that exact comparison in the post-match analysis.
But just how good is Messi at direct free kicks? And is scoring them a trait he has had throughout his career, or — as with many players — has it waxed and waned over the years? Allow The Athletic to investigate.
Even for Messi, a penalty from twelve yards with no wall is clearly the more presentable opportunity, reflected in the fact he has scored 112 career penalties compared to 68 free kicks.
That said, the data shows Messi is firmly in elite territory when it comes to taking free kicks. In domestic league play alone, he has scored 43 free kicks from 491 attempts, a conversion rate of 8.8 per cent, well above the average of around 5.5 per cent across Europe's top five leagues in the last 15 years. In contrast his penalty conversion rate is around 80 per cent. Perfectly fine, but one of the few areas where he resembles a 'normal' player, rather than the greatest of all time.
This exceptional career conversion rate is all the more impressive given that Messi wasn't especially prolific from free kicks in his early years after breaking into the Barcelona first team in 2004-05, with Ronaldinho, then in his swaggering pomp, understandably the team's primary taker.
Messi's first La Liga free kick attempt came at home against Mallorca in 2006-07 and, given its wide right-sided position, it was arguably more of a venomous cross than a genuine shot. It wasn't until midway through the 2011-12 season that he had even taken 50 domestic league free kicks but by then, he had become Barcelona's go-to taker.
His first domestic free kick goal was an outrageously audacious effort against Atletico Madrid in 2008-09. With goalkeeper Gregory Coupet distracted, shouting instructions at his wall while shifting toward the near post, Messi cheekily knocked the ball into the vacated far corner.
🏟️ Camp Nou⚽️ #BarçaAtleti🔙 05/10/2008
Messi's first EVER free-kick goal in #LaLiga came in a 6-1 @FCBarcelona win! 💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/SFvWbwa4t7
— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) December 16, 2018
But this moment of opportunism was more reflective of Messi's innate ability to read the game quicker than those around him, rather than a sign of technical prowess. At this early stage his conversion rate hovered around the average, as he had yet to hone his technique.
As shown in the Messi free kick shot maps below, it wasn't until 2017-18 that Messi really started to hit his direct free kick groove, scoring five or more free kicks in that campaign and in the two that followed it.
By this stage, football fans had come to recognise the key ingredients of a trademark Messi free kick, so let's take a closer look at what these are.
First, positioning. Like his stunning strike on Thursday, Messi tends to favour central areas just outside the box, with the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner attempting around 10 per cent of his free kicks from this zone.
His consistent set-piece technique plays a role, but part of Messi's effectiveness here stems from how exceptional he is at shooting from this area in general. As the open-play shot maps below show, Messi converts the same proportion of efforts from this zone when the ball is in play as when it's stationary.
Next, there's placement. Thursday's effort followed a familiar pattern: a curling strike aimed towards the right-side of the net. The goal map below highlights Messi's favoured target zones, and this strike landed in his most common area, with 22 per cent of his free kicks finding the space just below the top-right corner.
He does however send around 40 per cent of his free kicks to the right, which comes down to his preference for near-post efforts. When free kicks are located on the right hand side, he actually favours the left side much more, as shown below.
It's just that Messi's technique naturally lends itself to near post efforts on the left handed side. Although he has a perfectly competent right foot, Messi quite rightly takes free kicks with his revered left one.
This means that Messi's efforts naturally spin away from the keeper when aiming towards the right, but because they then spin towards the keeper on the left they require greater precision to beat him. Only 11 of his league free kicks have gone in on the left hand side.
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A great example of the rarer left-side finish came against Liverpool in their 3-0 first leg semi-final Champions League victory in 2018-19, when Messi bent a near-post strike into that corner with inch-perfect, postage-stamp accuracy, just beyond goalkeeper Alisson's fingertips. It was the kind of finish that leaves no margin for error — unlike efforts to the right, where the natural curl generally gives Messi more room to work with.
Messi's posture during these free kicks is instantly recognisable: right foot planted, body slightly hunched, ankle almost appearing rolled as he looks to generate that signature whip. But since leaving Barcelona in 2021, his free kick output has undergone a steady decline.
He scored just two league free kicks across his two less fruitful seasons at Paris Saint-Germain, and has managed only one apiece his last two MLS campaigns.
Still, Messi remains by far the most prolific free kick scorer of the modern era. Since 2010-11, he has scored 39 free kicks in Europe's top five leagues — more than double his closest rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, who sits on 19.
Messi is now on 68 across all competitions, and Thursday was yet another jaw-dropping reminder of how he got there.