Lionel Messi is closing in on yet another piece of football history.

The Argentine superstar scored the 76th direct free-kick goal of his career on Sunday night, leaving him just two away from tying the widely cited all-time record of 78 held by Brazilian legend Marcelinho Carioca.

And Messi’s latest one wasn’t exactly routine.

Playing for Inter Miami against the Columbus Crew, Messi stepped up to a free kick from an extremely tight angle near the right side of the field.

Most players would have crossed the ball into the penalty area.

Messi went for goal.

The 39-year-old curled his left-footed shot into the far corner in the 33rd minute, tying the match 1-1. Columbus eventually spoiled the moment with a stoppage-time winner to defeat Inter Miami 2-1.

Messi Is Chasing No. 78

According to one widely cited historical tally, the leaderboard now looks like this:

Marcelinho Carioca 🇧🇷 — 78
Lionel Messi 🇦🇷 — 76
Jair Rosa Pinto 🇧🇷 — 74
Roberto Dinamite 🇧🇷 — 73
Juninho Pernambucano 🇧🇷 — 72

That means Messi needs two more to tie the record and three to take the top spot outright.

There is an important caveat: historical free-kick statistics vary between databases depending on which matches and competitions they count, so there isn’t one universally recognized official global record. Some older lists, for example, credit Juninho with a different total.

Still Doing It at 39

Perhaps the craziest part is that Messi isn’t simply hanging around late in his career.

His latest strike was also his 21st MLS goal of the 2026 regular season, and he has continued adding spectacular free kicks to his total throughout the year.

Messi has scored direct free kicks for Barcelona, Argentina, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Miami over a professional career spanning more than two decades.

Now, at 39 years old, another historic milestone is within reach.

Two more to tie it. Three more to own it. 🇦🇷🐐