Messi and the free kick: is he chasing Rivelino's record?

There are goals, and then there are free kicks. A free kick is more than a technical moment: it's a still image in a match that otherwise never stands still. The crowd holds its breath. The wall forms. The goalkeeper prepares. And then one player decides everything with his foot.

Rivelino was the first great master of that discipline at a World Cup. Messi is the one who can take over his legacy.

Rivelino: the explosion from the left

Roberto Rivelino played for Brazil at the 1970 and 1974 World Cups. He wasn't the fastest or the biggest. But his left foot was a weapon his generation of goalkeepers had never encountered. The power with which he struck the ball, combined with unexpected rotation, made his free kicks almost unstoppable.

In 1970 he won the world title with Brazil in the legendary squad featuring Pelé, Jairzinho and Tostão. His free kicks were a fixed feature of the attacking arsenal. In 1974 Brazil were less strong, but Rivelino remained dangerous from set-pieces.

His World Cup record for direct free-kick goals stood for decades as the reference point for whoever was best at dead-ball situations on the biggest stage.

Messi and the free kick as art form

Messi had long let his World Cup free kicks go. In his early years as a World Cup player he missed set-pieces that the team relied on. The free kick wasn't his weapon of choice, not the moment his team sought him out.

That changed. Over the years Messi's free kick became more precise, more controlled and more dangerous. At Qatar 2022 he scored multiple times from a standing position. His technique — a low, curved ball towards the far corner — fitted perfectly with his style: deceptively calm, then undefendable.

At his fifth World Cup in 2022 it started to come together. At his sixth in 2026, he has the chance to definitively claim the statistics. And that sixth World Cup is historic in its own right: read why in Messi, Ronaldo and Ochoa: three legends at once.

Rivelino struck with power. Messi curves with precision. Two styles, one destination: the history books.

The opportunity in 2026

Messi plays his sixth World Cup. If Argentina goes deep, he plays a minimum of six and possibly seven matches. In each match free kicks are waiting, depending on how opponents defend against him.

Opponents who know Messi prefer not to give him a free kick in dangerous positions. But his reputation forces defenders into mistakes. Every foul on him outside the penalty area is a potential chance.

If he scores from a free kick at World Cup 2026, at his sixth tournament, after a career that has already produced dozens of direct free-kick goals in club football: that's not just a goal. That's a moment that, fifty years after Rivelino, draws a line between two generations.

The legacy of the free kick

Rivelino's name isn't always the first mentioned when discussing the great Brazilians. Pelé, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar: they dominate conversations. But among goalkeepers from the seventies, Rivelino's name is a warning.

Messi has become that warning. And in 2026 he can provide proof that his free kick at the highest level, at the most crucial moment, is the best the World Cup has ever seen.