There’s something about free-kicks that makes them feel like the most Hollywood part of football.

Maybe it’s the build-up. The chance for the camera to get a close-up. The fact that players like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo have made it their brand.

A perfectly executed free kick is a thing of beauty and surpassed only by a penalty in terms of unstoppable shots for a goalkeeper to face.

One of those very unstoppable shots occurred on Thursday night when Arda Guler picked out the toppest of top corners.

The Real Madrid man was representing his national team Turkiye as they faced Belgium in the Nations League and the home side took the lead through Guler in the 20th minute.

The ball is not even in an ideal spot for such a whipped free kick. It’s almost dead centre and about 10 yards away from the edge of the D. There’s a three-man wall ahead of him and a fair distance between him and the goal line.

Zadetek večera 🤩 #Arda #Guler #Turkey https://t.co/e4OE9GdE8B

— Sportklub Slovenija (@Sport_Klub_Slo) November 12, 2026

Goalkeeper Senne Lammens is hedging his bets. He stands directly in the centre of the goal, in theory making it easier for him to save a shot to his left or his right rather than gambling on one way. But it is the pace of the ball and curve that makes Senne a spectator.

Guler whips it past the head of the man on the furthest left of the wall. To be fair to Brandon Mechele, he does try and stick his head in the way of this high-flying ball and it is that kind of mentality which explains why he was wearing a protective face mask for this game.

After it flies past the Belgian centre-back’s head, it is not unfair to say the ball is about a metre high and a metre wide of the goal. If you were to pause it and ask someone which direction this ball was going, it would be a good guess to suggest row Z.

Instead, after it hits the apex of its flight plan, it curls viciously back towards the goal. If not already, Lammens is now at DEFCON 1.

The United keeper scrambles across and while his dive is pretty poor, he barely gets off the ground, he could have started on a step ladder and still not made it. The full black-gloved arm of Lammens stretches into the air but gets nowhere near it.

The ball just nips in under the crossbar. A few millimetres higher and Lammens’ blushes would have been spared. The immediate tension on the net shows just how fast the ball was moving.

It is a glorious goal and if you have seen a better free-kick all year, we will be surprised.

Turkiye’s joy was short-lived though as a quick-fire double from Belgium just seven minutes later decided the game.

Kevin De Bruyne scored the 41st goal of his international career before Atalanta’s Charles De Ketelaere put Belgium ahead.

Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku also played a starring role, assisting De Bruyne and attempting the third most dribbles in a Nations League game.

Belgium’s three points kept them in the hunt for a place in the quarter-finals and they are one point off Italy and France. Italy beat France 3-1 on the same night to consign Zinedine Zidane to his first defeat as manager.

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