Lionel Messi recently scored his 76th career direct free-kick goal for Inter Miami against Columbus Crew, narrowing the gap to Marcelinho Carioca's all-time record of 78. This latest strike, Messi's sixth free-kick goal in 2026, further extends his lead over Cristiano Ronaldo, who remains on 64 free-kick goals. A decade ago, Ronaldo held an 18-goal advantage over Messi (50-32) in this specific statistic. However, Messi has since scored 44 direct free kicks compared to Ronaldo's 14, completely reversing the lead. Messi surpassed Ronaldo in 2021 and now holds a 12-goal lead. He has also overtaken legends like Jair Rosa Pinto, Roberto Dinamite, and Juninho Pernambucano in the all-time rankings.