Beckham, Ronaldo, Messi: Fans vote on the top 25 greatest free-kick takers in history

David Beckham celebrates his 47th birthday today.

It’s crazy to think that it’s almost been a decade since the former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder hung up his boots and called time on his professional career.

However, just because so many years have passed since that heartfelt departure at Paris Saint-Germain, it doesn’t mean that the brilliant moments that Beckham produced are remembered any less fondly.

In fact, Beckham is a rare breed of footballer where his iconic status is such that he’s known across the world by millions of people who probably couldn’t care less about the beautiful game.

That being said, we could probably wager that even those who largely know Beckham for his celebrity standing would still know that he was famous for being world-class at one particular part of football.

Yes, that’s right, the whole ‘Golden Balls’ and ‘Bend it like Beckham’ narrative helps the wider world to know that Beckham is one of the greatest free-kick takers that the men’s game has ever seen.

There are few things more recognisable in football than videos and images of Beckham standing in his signature pose a few paces behind a ball with the wall, posts and goalkeeper in his cross hair.

From scoring more Premier League free-kicks than anybody else to that strike against Greece, there are many supporters who would argue that Beckham is the greatest ever when it comes to set pieces outside of the penalty area.

However, ‘many’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘most’ and Beckham blowing out 47 candles on his birthday cake made us wonder about his standing in the skill that he’s most famous for perfecting.

And to satiate our curiosity, we turned to the interactive list titled: “Best Free Kick Takers in Football (Soccer),”