The top 10 football goals of all time

Roberto Carlos Vs France

The one you all expected to see on the list. It was 1997 and Brazil were playing France in the Tournoi de France (A pre tournament between France, Brazil, England & Italy in preparation for the 1998 world cup). Brazil win a freekick 40 yards from goal after Romario was clumsily bought down by Didier Deschamps in the 22nd minute.

Roberto places the ball down, takes a 10/15 yard run up and unleashes a swerving shot with the outside of his left boot. The shot curved around the wall and went about 2 yards wide of the post before swerving back in and clipping the inside of the post before hitting the back of the net. The shot left Fabien Barthez, the French goalkeeper, as still as a statue as he watched the ball go past him.

France were able to get a point from the game after Marc Keller scored a tap in following a save from Taffarel, the Brazilian goalkeeper. This draw was just one of the 2 points that France picked up in a disappointing run of games which saw them loose to England (The overall group winners) & another draw, this time to Italy.

Kompany Vs Manchester City

The 2018/19 Premier League was one of the most competitive seasons we have ever seen as Manchester City and Liverpool battled it out at the top of the table. There were 2 games left and Liverpool played their penultimate game first. They snatched all 3 points away to Newcastle thanks to an 86th minute winner from Divock Origi. City then travelled to Leicester on the Monday night and up until the 70th minute Leicesters defence was looking unbeatable. It was time for the captain to have a pop, after a short dribbled forward Kompany knocked the ball out of his feet and fired a rocket from 25 yards. The ball beat the outstretched Kasper Schmeichel as it nestled in the top bins.

The game then ended 1-0 and the 3 points became invaluable at the end of the season. The final gameweek saw City beat WBA 4-1 and Liverpool easily saw off Wolves 2-0. Ultimately City were crowned champions beating Liverpool to the title by 1 point.

Andros Townsend Vs Manchester City

Going from a Man City Rocket to a thunder shot against them, we have this outrageous strike from Andros Townsend.

Despite going 1-0 down early on at the Ethiad they reacted quickly with 2 goals in 2 minutes. The second being this rocket off a left footed shot following a couple of poor clearances following a freekick on the right handside. The once, England international sees Bernardo Silva’s heading his way before hitting the sweetest strike past the helpless Ederson in the City net.

The technique was impeccable and he generates an immense amount of power which leaves Ederson with no chance.

Hulk vs Chongqing Lifan

Hulk by name and hulk by nature. This Brazilian international has scored a fair few screamers for a number of clubs over the years but for me his goal against Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic F.C. was the pick of the bunch. He picks the ball up 40 yards out and with nothing seemingly on he tries his luck and fires an arrow into the far corner.

Paul Scholes Vs Barcelona

This goal is no doubt a great goal but possibly the importance of it has helped it reach my top 10 list.

After a cagey performance at the Camp Nou, which saw Cristiano Ronaldo miss a penalty, Manchester United found themselves at Old Trafford knowing a win would be enough to earn them a place in the Champions League Final for the first time since the 98/99 season. With 14 minutes on the clock, the ever composed Paul Scholes latches onto a poor clearance, takes one touch and unleashed his shot past Victor Valdes in the Barca net.

The highly competitive game didn’t see another goal which meant United progressed into the final against Chelsea. They went on to draw 1-1 with them in the at the Luzhniki Stadium (Moscow, Russia), before beating them 6 – 5 on penalties.

A surprising fact, Ronaldo has only ever missed 9 penalties (correct at the time of the article), of which one was in the semi-finals first leg and the other was in the penalty shoot out in the final!

Ian Morris Vs Cork City

Going from Manchester United vs Barcelona to Bohemians vs Cork City isn’t the jump many people would have expected, but it was very hard to ignore this peach of a goal from Ian Morris in the FAI Cup semi-final replay.

With his team trailing 2-0 in the second half Morris decided to take matters into his own hands and unleashed a rocket of a strike from over 40 yards away! The ball smashes into the crossbar before bouncing out making it hard to see in the initial clip if the ball actually crossed the line.

Unfortunately for Morris & Bohemians his goal proved nothing more than a consolation as Cork City help onto their 2-1 lead and faced Dundalk in the final.

Gerrard Vs Olympiakos

One of greats in English football but also one of the best long shot finishers the Premier League has ever seen. The way Gerrard was able to strike a ball with the technique and power is just unfathomable. This list could have been filled with Gerrards goals there were so many rockets in his time, but for me, this one tops them all.

Liverpool headed into the final game of the group stages knowing that a win was needed, but not only that if the Greek giants got a goal Liverpools win would need to be by a 2 or greater goal difference. Having conceded in the first half Liverpool knew they needed a huge comeback to make it out of the group.

Immediately after the break, half-time sub, Sinama Pongolle pulled the game back to level terms but it wasn’t until the 80th minute did the game see its next goal. Núñez’s shot was well saved by Nikopolidis but Mellor got to the rebound before the defender to smash home. This left Liverpool with 10 minutes plus injury time to get a 3rd goal and get them out of the group.

As usual Captain Gerrard stepped up and unleashed a rocket into the far keeper past the outreached keeper. The Anfield Faithful went crazy, the commentary team went crazy and Andy Gray provided us with one of the most Iconic commentary moments ever – ‘Ohhhhh you beauty. What a hit, son. What a hit’ thanks to Andy Gray.

Pogba Vs Udinese

A 2 for one in this game, both provided by the French midfield maestro, Paul Pogba.

Pogba joined Juventus from his first stint and Manchester United at the beginning of the 2012/13 season having failed to agree a new contract at the Red Devils. In his first season he only managed 5 goals and not a single assist. When he did score, boy did he make them look good.

The first goal, which came just 5 minutes before the break, saw him pluck the ball out the air following a headed clearance from the Udinese defence. His next touch saw him unleash a bending shot with the outside of his boot past the keeper before nestling into the top corner.

The second goal isnt necessarily a “traditional” screamer, but in my opinion the technique and finish was so sublime it was hard to ignore. He casually turn the Udinese midfield before releasing a low shot with his right foot. The technique to not only beat his man but then generate such power while keeping the ball low makes this a worthy contender for the list. Not only that, but the ability to get the ball to bounce just infront of the keeper makes the goalies job much harder.

Juve’ went on to win the game 4-0 which extended their lead at the top of the table by 5 points following Lazio 2-2 draw at Palermo. Juve finished the season as Champions, but more impressively Udinese achieved a top 5 finish for the 3rd season in a row, thank to the Heroics of club legend Antonio Di Natale who racked up 26 goals.

Ronaldo Vs Porto

Given the fact Ronaldo has scored 100’s of goals it was extremely difficult to pick just one of his, but for me his thunderbolt of a strike against Porto in 2009 during their Champions League campaign.

Having faced a tough game against the Portuguese team at Old Trafford, Manchester United knew it wasn’t going to be an easy ride in the second leg of the Quarter-finals. Things were made a little easier early on as Ronaldo riffled his shot into the top bins from upwards of 40 yards out. He initially looked set to get his head down and go on one of his tricky runs through the defence. However, in a blink of an eye he has knocked the ball out his feet and unleashed one of the sweetest shots into the top left corner.

The goal was the only one of the game which saw United progress to the semi final and ultimately the final in Rome before loosing 2-0 to Barcelona.

Naldo vs Eintracht Frankfurt

Naldo played for a few Bundesliga teams including Werder Bremen & Schalke 04 but it was his time at VfL Wolfsburg which saw him score this thunderbolt of a strike. From 35 yards out he buried his shot into the top bins in the dying minutes of the game to secure his side all 3 points.