Cristiano Ronaldo wears the hat for free kicks. In Portugal's national team, only two free kicks have been taken by another player since 2010. But Ronaldo's strike rate leaves a lot to be desired.
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- Cristiano Ronaldo takes the free kicks for Portugal. He took four of them in the round of 16 match against Slovenia, all without success.
- At major tournaments (World Cup and European Championship), Ronaldo has taken 60 free kicks so far and scored just one goal.
- No one has taken as many free kicks at European Championship finals as Ronaldo (34 attempts). Zinédine Zidane was more successful than CR7 with half as many attempts. Zidane has scored twice, while Ronaldo has always come away empty-handed.
Opinions are divided when it comes to Cristiano Ronaldo. Is the 39-year-old still good enough for Portugal's starting eleven or should he make way for a younger player?
Ronaldo is still waiting for a goal at the European Championships and the associated record as the oldest ever European Championship goalscorer. Ronaldo missed a penalty in extra time against Slovenia.
CR7 showed the same efficiency with free kicks in the round of 16. He took the ball four times, but four times he failed to score. Giving the ball to a team-mate is clearly not an option for the superstar - even if it might be a sensible one.
Many attempts at a goal
Ronaldo has taken 60 free kicks at European Championships and World Cups so far and only converted one of them. Nevertheless, the goal was a real winner. At the 2018 World Cup in the spectacular match against Spain, he smashed the ball into the net to make the final score 3:3.
For comparison: Lionel Messi has taken 53 free kicks for Argentina at the World Cup and Copa América so far. Five of them ended up in the goal.
The Portuguese almost have a free-kick dictatorship at major events. Since the 2004 European Championship, Ronaldo's first major tournament, 72% of all free-kick attempts have come from him (60 out of 83).
Since 2010, only two of Portugal's 53 direct free-kicks have NOT been taken by Cristiano Ronaldo: Miguel Veloso took one at Euro 2012 and Raphaël Guerreiro one at Euro 2016.
Zinédine Zidane more successful with half the attempts
Ronaldo's statistics speak volumes. Nobody can even come close to holding a candle to him. He has taken 34 free kicks for Portugal at European Championship finals - without scoring a single goal. That's more than twice as many attempts as any other player before him. Zinédine Zidane has taken 15 free kicks and scored twice.
Ronaldo has been taking the free-kick sceptre for years. At the 1994 World Cup, Romania's Gheorghe Hagi took five free-kick attempts in one match. With his four free kicks against Slovenia, Ronaldo has set a new record since 1994.
Next Friday, Ronaldo and his Portugal will face runners-up France in the quarter-finals. There he will have the chance to improve his free-kick statistics for Portugal and break the record as the oldest European Championship goalscorer - or perhaps give the ball to a team-mate.
