Lionel Messi nails incredible Club World Cup free-kick winner

News.com.au

21-06-2025

Lionel Messi lit up the Club World Cup with a majestic winner that fans reckon should earn him a ridiculous ninth Ballon d'Or.
The iconic attacker conjured incredible curl to flash home a free-kick as Inter Miami stunned Portuguese giants Porto with a 2-1 comeback victory, as The Sun reports.
David Beckham's team went wild after 37-year-old Messi's deadball detonation left viewers claiming the Argentine was as good as ever.
One fan raved: 'He is incredible! Messi is from another planet! Give him the ballon d'Or!'
Another wrote: 'The curl on that! What a goal from the greatest ever.'
A third posted: 'You don't leave the legend with a foul like that to score the goal.'
A fourth added: The GOAT doing GOAT things.'
If anything, Messi's strike looked even better when seen on the innovative Ref Cam, which you can see below.
It showed the ex-Barcelona hero making his magic look easy, as with barely any backlift he whipped the ball home from a central position just outside the penalty area.
Miami had roared back after Samu Aghehowa's early penalty opener for Porto in front of 31,783 fans at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
And in fact that spot-kick was a soft decision, following a VAR intervention when Noah Allen was spotted making slight contact on Joao Mario.
Venezuela midfielder Telasco Segovia thumped Miami level just 96 seconds into the second half.
And Messi – the night's star performer for so much more than his goal – completed the turnaround seven minutes later with his vintage swerver.
Porto did pour forward late on, with Aghehowa blazing high.
But Becks' MLS club now share top place in Group A with Palmeiras, both on four points from two games.