Following his free-kick goal against Sevilla on Sunday night, FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has now scored more direct free-kicks than Italy legend Andrea Pirlo did, but where does the Argentine rank among the top 10 dead-ball specialists of all time?
Click through the gallery above to see the 10 leading free-kick goalscorers in history, as per GiveMeSport!
Having missed two chances to score from set-pieces earlier in the game, Messi stepped up in the 78th minute against Sevilla to make to score 4-0 by scoring with a direct free-kick.
As such, the Albiceleste talisman has now struck 48 times from free-kicks in official competitions, going one further than Pirlo, who was known as a dead-ball specialist throughout his great career, according to Spanish football expert Alexis Martin-Tamayo, better known as MisterChip on Twitter.
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Messi is six strikes short of Cristiano Ronaldo's tally of 54 free-kick goals, but neither of them are in the all-time top 10. The 32-year-old is still some way off Marcelinho Carioca's record of 59 goals from direct set-pieces, but the Brazilian himself is only 10th in the ranking.
Above him are some high-profile names such as Diego Maradona and David Beckham, as well as another player regarded as one of the game's greatest players ever, Pele.
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The most lethal free-kick taker of all time, as per GiveMeSport, is Juninho Pernambucano, who struck 77 times with direct set-pieces from outside the box.
How far do you think Messi could climb up this list come the end of his career? Let us know in the comments section below.
