What is the Free-Kick Rule in Football?

Roberto Carlos Scored the Most Incredible Free-Kick in Football History

1997 Tournoi de France: France vs Brazil,  Stade de Gerland, Lyon

Free kicks have never been the same since Roberto Carlos defied the laws of physics in the 1997 Tournoi de France. France hosted Le Tournoi a year before the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The four-nation mini-tournament also featured Brazil, Italy, and England. In the first match of the mini-tournament, France played the defending world champions - one of the best teams in the world - in Lyon on October 3. 

The match would be forgotten, if not for Carlos’ incredible direct free kick from 35 metres out. Twenty-two minutes had elapsed when the Brazilian defender, who went on to be one of the best defenders in the world, scored what pundits described as “the goal that defied physics” and the “impossible strike”. The curve and speed of the free-kick left France goalkeeper Fabien Barthez bamboozled. 

Juninho Pernambucano and Cristiano Ronaldo perfected the “knuckleball” free-kick. Pernambucano and Ronaldo are two of the best dead-ball specialists in football history. They are also on the top 10 list of most free kicks scored in history. A “knuckleball” free-kick is hit from front on, with the top of the instep, striking the ball below the centre, near the bottom. 

The idea is to blast the ball up and over the wall. This style of strike enables the ball to be hit with pace and power, and once it is over the wall, the ball dips over or past the goalkeeper. Carlos struck the ball with force, on the outside of his boot, enabling the ball to swerve. The flight and trajectory of the Brazilian’s free-kick, however, has had scientists and physicists intrigued for decades. 

Many research studies on the free-kick have been done, including one of the most clinical and respected studies conducted by four French scientists - Guillaume Dupeux, Anne Le Goff, David Quere, and Christophe Clanet. The study was published in the New Journal of Physics in September 2010. 

The ball swerved around the wall, and boomer-ranged back towards Barthez’s goal, before going in off the post. In a 2017 interview with ESPN Brasil, Carlos said: “To be honest, until this day I don't know how I did that.” It was a beautiful goal. It required a lot of training and hard work throughout my career. But that hard work paid off, as I was able to score such a wonderful goal, which was a special moment for me.”

Image Credits: PASCAL GEORGE/AFP via Getty Images

Robert Pires, who was new to international football, and standing on the edge of the wall, gave Sky Sports his reaction in an interview on June 3, 2017, the twentieth anniversary of the goal. “The ball curved between me and the wall, so I had a very good view of it,” he told the British broadcaster. “We knew Roberto Carlos had a powerful shot but to hit the ball like that was amazing. I remember he struck it with the outside of his boot. We were surprised with the trajectory of the ball and how it curved. It was unthinkable.” 

Carlos never attempted to take another free-kick the same way because he thought it would be impossible to pull it off again. He did, however, say he scored similar goals in training. “Goals like that come around only once in your career. I hit a few like that in training, with and without a wall, but never with as much swerve and spin,” he told football magazine FourFourTwo in an interview back in 2015. “It was a beautiful goal – unforgettable.”

“I never tried to kick like that again,” he told ESPN, “because I know I would never have scored. There are lots of good kickers nowadays. It might take some time, but someday someone will score a similar goal. But I was the first.” Despite many people thinking the strike cannot be replicated, scientists and physicists disagree. “What happened that day was so special,” researcher Quere told The Associated Press. “We are confronted with an unexpected law of physics, but it's possible to see this again.”