10 Free Kicks That Stunned the World

From Ukraine to Brazil and the Premier League to the Brazilian Serie A, here's a closer look at 10 of the greatest free kicks ever.

Image via USA TODAY Sports / Winslow Townson

Set piece specialists are hot property in football – Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale are among the world class talents who step up to the plate for their club sides on a regular basis – and there's not many finer sights in football than a jaw-dropping free kick.

Over the years, free kick wonder goals have been showpiece moments for some of the world's greatest talents – acting as launching pads or hall-of-fame moments in equal measure. If they're hit well enough, free kicks have the potential to change games and careers in an instant.

From Ukraine to Brazil and the Premier League to the Brazilian Serie A, here's a closer look at 10 of the greatest free kicks in the history of the beautiful game.

Roberto Carlos

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Fixture: Brazil vs France

Year: 1997

This is the hit that's probably remembered as the greatest free kick ever taken. 'Le Tournoi' was pretty much a dress rehersal for the 1998 World Cup but it ended providing a moment that's more iconic from the showpiece tournament itself.

Against France, Roberto Carlos stepped up to take a free kick over 40 yards from goal. After a stunted run up, the ball was struck with such velocity that it spun in the air and swung back into the goal off the inside post. Carlos spent the rest of his career trying to recreate the goal with varying success.

David Beckham

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Fixture: England vs Greece

Year: 2001

When the dust settled on David Beckham's football career, this is the moment that remains etched into the hearts and minds of every England fan. With qualification to the 2002 World Cup on the line, Beckham stepped up for a 93rd minute free kick from thirty yards out.

With trademark precision, Beckham hoisted the pressure of a nation from his shoulders and hit a showpiece goal that's still replayed by clip shows to this day. This goal was the moment that sparked his England captaincy into life, making him the darling of a nation and – eventually – the most recognisable athlete on the planet.

Ronaldinho

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Fixture: Brazil vs England

Year: 2002

The 2002 World Cup saw Brazil pick up the trophy for the fifth time and it was the three Rs who stole the show in Korea and Japan: Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.

Ronaldinho ended the tournament as the breakout star and his most iconic moment came when he lofted a free kick over David Seaman's head from an impossible angle and distance. We're still not sure whether it was a cross or a shot, but we do know he moved to Barcelona a year later and became one of the greatest players of all time. His journey started here.

Cristiano Ronaldo

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Fixture: Manchester United vs Portsmouth

Year: 2008

While most Manchester United fans would have us believe that Cristiano Ronaldo was a global superstar from the second he stepped off a plane from Lisbon, it wasn't until the 2007/08 season that truly had fans thinking he could be an all-time great.

His true breakout moment came in late January against Portsmouth, when – with his 25th league goal of the season – he pulled off the 'knuckleball' technique for the first time to send his free kick over the wall and high into the net at blistering pace. The goal was instantly labelled as one of the best set piece strikes in history. Ronaldo finished the season with 42 goals in 49 games and he never looked back.

Alan Shearer

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Fixture: Manchester United vs Newcastle

Year: 2002

Alan Shearer is the greatest goal scorer of the Premier League era and while he knew his way around inside the box, Newcastle's number nine also knew how to score a wonder goal.

One of his finest Premier League strikes came via this thunderbastard of a free kick against Manchester United, the club he turned down in 1996. While the free kick was good enough to win any game, it did Newcastle no favours, and they actually lost the game 5-3.

Oleksandr Aliyev

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Fixture: Ukraine vs Turkey (U20s World Cup)

Year: 2005

Little-known Ukrainian Oleksandr Aliyev carved a reputation for himself as a free-kick specialist in a respectable career that included spells at Lokomotiv Moscow and Dynamo Kyiv, but his finest hour came in his country's colours at the 2005 U20 World Cup. Watch this and weep.

Hakan Calhanoglu

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Fixture: Hamburg vs Borussia Dortmund

Year: 2014

Following Cristiano Ronaldo's recent free kick drought, Hakan Calhanoglu has taken his place as European football's go-to free kick specialist. The Turkish midfielder's goals were so good that the Bundesliga went to the lengths of creating a montage for YouTube last year and this mesmerising strike – against a Klopp-era Dortmund – is the best of the lot.

Paul Gascoigne

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Arsenal

Year: 1991

There's fewer fixtures in the football calendar that are as big as the North London derby and one of the most important encounters in living memory between Spurs and Arsenal came in the 1991 FA Cup semi final, the first to ever be played at Wembley.

An unstoppable 35-yard free kick from Paul Gascoigne – still riding high after his showing at Italia 90 – helped Spurs to a 3-1 win over their bitter rivals.

Rogerio Ceni

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Fixture: Sao Paulo vs Cortinthians

Year: 2011 

Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni became one of the most renowned goalkeepers in world football during the 90s and 00s but it wasn't for his ability between the sticks and instead, his tendency to find the back of the net at the other end.

Ceni retired earlier this year as the highest-scoring goalkeeper in the history of football (with 131 goals in under 1300 games) and his 100th goal was one of his most memorable. The free kick specialist floated in a beautiful curler against his beloved Sao Paulo's arch rivals, Corinthians, in a fiercely-contest derby.

Ernie Hunt

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Fixture: Coventry City vs Everton

​Year: 1970

We're going to throwback to 1970 for this pretty special free kick routine from Coventry City and Ernie Hunt. It was deemed so slick that it must be cheating and the rules surrounding the ways free kicks should be taken were changed pretty quickly.

Against Everton, Willie Carr gripped the ball between his heels and flicked the ball up, from which Hunt volleyed home a delicious strike that tore into the far side of the net. The move was described as a "moment of magic destined for immortality" by The Times but authorities didn't take to the trick so kindly – they soon ruled that a free kick had to move the ball one full revolution before someone else could make contact.

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