James Ward-Prowse might be close to overtaking David Beckham as the Premier League’s most prolific free-kick taker, but for most the Man Utd icon will always be the true dead-ball specialist of English football.
Beckham came through in the ‘Class of 92’ at Man Utd alongside the likes of Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville. Even within that esteemed company, Beckham was the star.
A large part of that was his penchant for the spectacular, which he announced with a goal from the half-way line against Wimbledon on the opening day of the 1996/97 season.
One of the other things that made him iconic, though, was his free-kick stance. Not only did kids in the school yard model their hair on Beckham, they also spent their breaks and lunch times trying to replicate his free-kick routine.
Just how good at free-kicks was David Beckham, though?
How many Premier League free-kicks did David Beckham score?
David Beckham scored 18 free-kicks during his Premier League career, which he spent entirely with Manchester United.
His first one came relatively soon after his iconic Wimbledon goal. It was in October 1996 against Southampton, and his final one for Man Utd was in May 2003 against Everton.
He scored those 18 in just 265 games, meaning he scored on, on average, every 14 games or so.
* Denotes active player | Statistics accurate as of February 19, 2023
How many free-kicks did David Beckham score in total?
Manchester United, of course, only made up the first part of Beckham’s incredible career.
As well as playing 115 times for England – a tally only Peter Shilton and Wayne Rooney can better – Beckham also played for Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Milan and LA Galaxy.
It will come as little surprise, then, to discover Beckham is not only statistically the greatest Premier League free-kick taker of all time, but one of the best in world football too.
In fact, only Juninho Pernambucano, Pele, Víctor Legrotaglie and Ronaldinho can say the scored more goals from free-kicks than Beckham.
Juninho Pernambucano scored the most free-kicks in history with 77, while Beckham got 65 in total.
* Denotes active player | Statistics accurate as of February 19, 2023
What was David Beckham’s most iconic free-kick
Given the sheer volume of free-kicks that Beckham scored in his career, you’d think there would be a lot of competition for which one was the greatest.
However, there is one that stands head and shoulder above all the rest. Not only was it Beckham’s greatest free-kick, it may have been his most iconic moment on a football pitch.
It came at Old Trafford, of course, but Beckham was not wearing a Man Utd shirt.
England needed just a draw with Greece to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, and few gave Greece much hope of denying them it.
They very nearly did, though. The Greeks led 2-1 going into injury-time and England were awarded a free-kick 30 yards from goal.
The situation was simple: One man, one chance, one swing of the boot to decide if England qualified automatically for the World Cup or suffered an embarrassing failure.
Beckham stepped up and powered an incredible free-kick into the top corner, and there was not a single person who was surprised to see it.
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Source : 90min