Lionel Messi remains the undisputed king of free kicks and that has been acknowledged by EA with their latest ratings coming out for FC 27.

Those who can score free kicks in the game find that with the right player, it may as well be a penalty and it’s no surprise that Messi again tops the charts for that ranking.

Even now at 39 years of age, no player has even equalled the rating handed out to the Argentine but some of his national team colleagues come close.

Here’s the top 10 takers according to EA. And if you were wondering, Cristiano Ronaldo’s accuracy is rated at 79, well short of what he would need to crack the top 10.

=9. Bruno Fernandes – 86

While Fernandes tends to pass the ball whenever he takes a set piece, he will on occasion have a crack at goal too.

He’s got six for United as part of 13 total career kick goals and his most recent came in that mad 4-4 draw with Bournemouth last season.

=9. James Maddison – 86

Maddison’s injury record means we have not seen him attempt many in recent times but he is still one of the best according to EA.

He has scored a free kick at every club he has been at, including three in the Premier League in the 2018-19 season for Leicester.

He’s even managed to score one for Spurs which seems an awful long time ago now.

8. Paulo Dybala – 87

Former Argentine wonderkid Dybala is eighth on this list, being the only player ranked at 87.

Now playing his football for Roma, his last free kick goal came in 2024 but he has scored 13 in his career.

7. Cristiano Biraghi – 88

Torino’s left-back Biraghi has been given an 88 rating for free kick in the latest game.

The former Italian international has scored 10 goals via dead balls in his career, the most recent being for Fiorentina against Parma on the opening day of the 2024-25 season.

6. Angel Di Maria – 88

Di Maria may be getting near to the end of his playing career but according to EA, he can still hit a mean free kick.

He’s scored 14 goals from free kicks and was most prolific in his PSG days, scoring four in the 2018-19 season.

5. Dominik Szoboszlai – 89

A couple of absolute rockets, including a spectacular effort against Arsenal, have earned Szoboszlai a very high free kick rating.

Interestingly, before that Arsenal goal last season, Szoboszlai was not exactly a prolific scorer.

His last free kick goal came for Hungary in the 2022-23 season and he scored a maximum of one in three seasons in a row.

Last season he got four in one campaign and would be heavily fancied to do something similar this year.

4. Julian Alvarez – 89

Alvarez’s free kick capacity was one of the many reasons Barcelona presumably wanted to bring him to the Camp Nou but Atletico held onto that ability.

He even put one past Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season but has already scored eight goals through that method in his career.

And with Messi retiring from the national team, maybe Alvarez can start taking a few for Argentina too.

3. James Ward-Prowse – 90

Ward-Prowse built a reputation for being deadly from a dead piece and the numbers back it up.

The Southampton midfielder has scored 21 free-kick goals, but he may have lost the touch as he has not done so since the 2022-23 season.

2. Alex Grimaldo – 92

Atletico Madrid’s Grimaldo has earned the number two spot on this list after 22 goals from free kicks in his career.

He has yet to score one for his new club though, having joined in the summer.

1. Lionel Messi – 93

Messi remains the undisputed king of free kicks with a rating of 93.

Interestingly, Messi was not really known as a dead ball specialist in his early career, scoring a combined 10 in his first six seasons, but then from 2015-16 campaign, he really began to hone his craft.

He scored a frankly silly nine in that year and has scored at least three in all but one season since.

As for which is his best, take your pick with highlights including beating a fully stretched Alisson or catching Thibaut Courtois out with a ridiculous one against Atletico.

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