The 20 best free-kick takers since 2000, ft. Szoboszlai, Messi & Ronaldo | OneFootball

Dominik Szoboszlai is renowned for being one of the world's finest free-kick takers, but where does he rank among the best set-piece specialists this millennium?

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The Hungarian midfielder, who has been an integral part of RB Leipzig's side for the past two years, appears Liverpool bound after the Reds triggered the 22-year-old's €70 million release clause.

Szoboszlai has scored some ridiculous free kicks for club and country throughout his career.

Indeed, the youngster fired in one of the most satisfying free-kicks you'll ever see on his first start for Leipzig.

And earlier this year, he curled in an absolute beauty for Hungary vs Bulgaria in Euro 2024 qualifying.

But the Hungarian is far from the only freakishly good free-kick taker on the planet.

We've put together a Tiermaker of the 20 best free-kick specialists since the year 2000 and it's stacked with talent.

While it proved difficult to separate a number of these names, there's absolutely no debate when it comes to the number one spot, in our opinion.

5 Can strike a ball - Aleksandar Kolarov, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wesley Sneijder, Juan Riquelme, Nene

As a full-back, Kolarov is far from a natural goalscorer, but he's often been tasked with set-piece duties during his career. The Serbian rifled home numerous bangers for Manchester City during his time in England and has also notched a handful of free-kick goals on international duty, including a rocket against France back in 2014.

Similarly, Nene, Riquelme and Sneijder all scored a number of goals from free-kicks. The former bagged 15 times from a set piece, while Riquelme and Sneijder registered 22 and 26 goals respectively.

Alexander-Arnold's numbers are not quite as eye-catching but there's no doubt he's produced some memorable strikes for Liverpool from dead ball situations.

4 Very impressive - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alessandro Del Piero, Ronaldinho, Dominik Szoboszlai

Hold your horses. We know Szoboszlai is quite low down on this list, but that's only because the players above him are simply incredible free-kick takers.

Who knows? Maybe if the Hungarian starts banging them in for Liverpool, we'll reconsider.

As for the others, Ibrahimovic, Del Piero and Ronaldinho need no explanation. All three are legends in their own right, but all were equally good from a dead-ball situation in their prime as well.

3 Free-kick specialist - Christian Eriksen, Hakan Calhanoglu, Rogerio Ceni, Andrea Pirlo

Many of you may think Pirlo is in the same bracket as Ronaldinho and co, but the Italian's highlight reel when it comes to free-kicks is just remarkable. From long-range efforts, to inch-perfect curlers – the legendary midfielder simply had it all.

Meanwhile, Eriksen has scored more free-kicks than anyone else in the Premier League since he made his debut in 2013 (8) and you can expect he'll only continue to add to that tally.

Calhanoglu is closing in on 30 free-kick goals in his career and the majority have been absolute thunderbolts.

Ceni, however, is the only goalkeeper on this list. Remarkably, the Brazilian scored 59 free kicks throughout his career, all of which came for Sao Paulo.

2 Simply outstanding - Dimitri Payet, James Ward-Prowse, Roberto Carlos, Cristiano Ronaldo, David Beckham, Juninho

Carlos' famous trivela free-kick for Brazil vs France is widely considered one of the greatest free-kicks ever and that was far from the only thunderbolt the left-back scored.

His Brazilian teammate Juninho was also not averse to wonder goals and is known for perfecting the knuckleball technique. The ex-Lyon icon has scored more free-kicks than any other player since 2000 (78), and there are no current professionals that are anywhere near his tally.

Ronaldo is another to have scored a plethora of unbelievable free-kicks, but if we're being completely honest, it feels like his success rate has dipped dramatically in recent years.

Beckham is a name that few will be surprised to see this high. His memorable strike for England vs Greece back in 2001 remains one of the most clutch free-kicks ever scored.

Though the names already mentioned are outstanding free-kick takers in their own right, few could do it as consistently as Ward-Prowse.

The Englishman may not be a world-class all-round player, but there's no doubt he's one of the best free-kick takers to ever grace a football pitch.

Similarly, Payet only stayed in the Premier League for 18 months but still managed to score a number of ridiculously good goals.

The Frenchman's free-kick against Crystal Palace back in 2016 is our pick of the lot.

1 The GOAT - Lionel Messi

Messi may not have the power of Carlos or the knuckle-ball prowess of Juninho or Ronaldo.

Indeed, the Argentine's free-kick tactic is relatively simple. Step up, pick his spot, strike the ball, and more often than not, score!

At times, it feels like Messi is so accurate when it comes to free-kicks, it almost feels like he's taken a penalty.

There are too many memorable Messi set-piece goals to count, but if you need any proof of his genius – take a look at the one he scored vs Liverpool in 2018.