Lionel Messi curled a spectacular free-kick home from a nearly impossible angle to equalize for Inter Miami against Columbus Crew on Sunday, bringing his career total of free-kick goals to 76 and moving him within two of the all-time record.
The 39-year-old Argentine stood over a set piece awarded near the right touchline in the 33rd minute, after Columbus had taken an early lead through Josef Martínez.
Instead of sending a cross into the box, Messi struck the ball with his left foot, lifting it over the wall and into the far top corner, out of reach of goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.
The goal leveled the score at 1-1, although Columbus went on to win 2-1 with a late strike in stoppage time.
That free kick was Messi’s 76th in official matches over his career with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami, and Argentina.
It leaves him two shy of the mark, most widely credited to Brazilian Marcelinho Carioca, who is attributed with 78 direct free-kick goals.
Messi has been on a prolific run from set pieces in 2026. He scored against San Diego FC to reach 75, netted twice in Inter Miami’s 7-1 win over CF Montréal, and also found the net from free-kicks against Orlando City, New York City FC, and Jordan with Argentina at the World Cup.
This latest strike continues Messi’s late-career mastery of free-kicks. He scored 50 for Barcelona, more than a dozen for Argentina, and has added further goals for Inter Miami since joining the MLS side in 2023.
His overall career goal tally now stands above 931.
Historical free-kick records can differ depending on the criteria used by different compilers, with some lists still placing Juninho Pernambucano near the top with 77.
However, recent tallies consistently rank Marcelinho Carioca first and Messi second after the Columbus goal.
Portugal’s manager, Jorge Jesus, has explained the reason Cristiano Ronaldo stayed on the bench as an unused substitute for the entire 2-1 UEFA Nations League win against Norway in Oslo on Sunday.
Although Ronaldo, 41, was listed among the substitutes and was fit enough to feature, he remained on the bench for the whole 90 minutes while Gonçalo Ramos led the attack and netted the winning goal.
Jesus stated that his original intention had been to send the captain on.
As Fabrizio Romano reported on X on Monday, the coach was quoted saying, “I was thinking of Cristiano to come in… but then the game dictates other things,” he explained.
The coach stressed that the choice was made for tactical reasons alone and had nothing to do with any fitness worries. “I felt it wasn’t the right time to put him in the game. There are still two more games, but it wasn’t to protect him physically. He was ready,” Jesus added.
He went on to reveal that he had actually agreed with Ronaldo beforehand to bring him on for the last half-hour. Yet Ramos was playing well—scoring one goal and having another ruled out—and the state of the match called for different substitutions to keep the balance and safeguard the result.
Portugal made use of all five allowed substitutions, sending on players including Vitinha, Rafael Leão, Rúben Neves, Francisco Trincão, and Bernardo Silva, though Ronaldo was not one of them.
Jesus kept the door open for Ronaldo to return in the forthcoming fixtures, hinting that he could start against Denmark.
With this result, Portugal sits at the top of their Nations League group following two consecutive victories.
