The FIFA World Cup is finally here!
Yes, that’s right.
Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated competitive tournament in the history of sport is about to get underway.
In a nutshell, 32 footballing nations come together every four years to battle for the prestigious title of best team in the world.
You get to see the most talented superstars showcase their ability on the global stage, which brings a lot of excitement.
With that in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the dead ball specialists who’ll be responsible for whipping in those free kicks and corners on the game’s biggest stage.
But, why is this important?
Well, by identifying the set piece takers present at the World Cup, spectators can develop more informed opinions about the teams in action, as well as make better predictions with regard to match outcomes.
So, let’s get right down to business.
World Cup set piece takers list for Qatar 2022
The names you’ll see in the table below have been compiled by watching footage of numerous World Cup qualifying games, international friendlies and Nations League matches, so you can be sure that this is the most up to date list on the internet!
Group A
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Qatar | Akram Afif | Almoez Ali | Ali Assadalla | Ali Assadalla | ||||
Ecuador | Enner Valencia | Jordy Caicedo | Ángel Mena | Pervis Estupiñán | Jeremy Sarmiento | Ángel Mena | ||
Senegal | Ismaïla Sarr | Boulaye Dia | Ismaïla Sarr | Idrissa Gueye | Ismaïla Sarr | Idrissa Gueye | ||
Netherlands | Memphis Depay | Frenkie De Jong | Memphis Depay | Frenkie De Jong | Virgil Van Dijk | Memphis Depay | Cody Gakpo |
Group B
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
England | Harry Kane | Kieran Trippier | Kieran Trippier | Mason Mount | Eric Dier | Kieran Trippier | Mason Mount | Phil Foden |
Iran | Mehdi Taremi | Ehsan Hajsafi | Alireza Jahanbakhsh | Ali Gholizadeh | Alireza Jahanbakhsh | Ali Gholizadeh | ||
USA | Christian Pulisic | Haji Wright | Christian Pulisic | Yunus Musah | Brenden Aaronson | Christian Pulisic | Brenden Aaronson | |
Wales | Gareth Bale | Brennan Johnson | Gareth Bale | Harry Wilson | Joe Allen | Harry Wilson | Joe Allen |
Group C
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Argentina | Lionel Messi | Lautaro Martinez | Lionel Messi | Rodrigo De Paul | Angel Di Maria | Lionel Messi | Angel Di Maria | Rodrigo De Paul |
Saudi Arabia | Salem Al Dawsari | Salman Al Faraj | Salman Al Faraj | |||||
Mexico | Raúl Jiménez | Alexis Vega | Hirving Lozano | Hirving Lozano | ||||
Poland | Robert Lewandowski | Piotr Zieliński | Piotr Zieliński | Piotr Zieliński |
Group D
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
France | Kylian Mbappe | Olivier Giroud | Antoine Griezmann | Ousmane Dembélé | Antoine Griezmann | Ousmane Dembélé | ||
Australia | Jamie Maclaren | Aaron Mooy | Ajdin Hrustic | Aaron Mooy | Martin Boyle | Aaron Mooy | Ajdin Hrustic | Martin Boyle |
Denmark | Kasper Dolberg | Christian Eriksen | Christian Eriksen | Andreas Skov Olsen | Christian Eriksen | Andreas Skov Olsen | ||
Tunisia | Wahbi Khazri | Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane | Wahbi Khazri | Anis Ben Slimane | Wahbi Khazri | Anis Ben Slimane |
Group E
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Spain | Ferran Torres | Alvaro Morata | Pablo Sarabia | Pedri | Jordi Alba | Pablo Sarabia | Pedri | Koke |
Costa Rica | Joel Campbell | Bryan Oviedo | Bryan Oviedo | |||||
Germany | İlkay Gündoğan | Thomas Müller | Joshua Kimmich | Jonas Hofmann | İlkay Gündoğan | Joshua Kimmich | Jonas Hofmann | Leroy Sane |
Japan | Yuya Osako | Daichi Kamada | Takefusa Kubo | Daichi Kamada | Takefusa Kubo |
Group F
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Belgium | Eden Hazard | Kevin De Bruyne | Kevin De Bruyne | Eden Hazard | Youri Tielemans | Kevin De Bruyne | Eden Hazard | Leandro Trossard |
Canada | Alphonso Davies | Jonathan David | Alphonso Davies | Stephen Eustáquio | Junior Hoilett | Alphonso Davies | Junior Hoilett | Stephen Eustáquio |
Croatia | Andrej Kramarić | Luka Modrić | Luka Modrić | Ivan Perišić | Borna Sosa | Luka Modrić | Ivan Perišić | Borna Sosa |
Morocco | Yousef En-Nesyri | Hakim Ziyech | Hakim Ziyech | Sofiane Boufal | Amine Harit | Hakim Ziyech | Sofiane Boufal | Munir El Haddadi |
Group G
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brazil | Neymar | Raphinha | Neymar | Raphinha | Lucas Paquetá | Raphinha | Neymar | Lucas Paquetá |
Serbia | Dušan Tadić | Aleksandar Mitrović | Filip Kostić | Dušan Tadić | Filip Kostić | Dušan Tadić | ||
Switzerland | Haris Seferovic | Fabian Schär | Xherdan Shaqiri | Granit Xhaka | Ricardo Rodriguez | Xherdan Shaqiri | Ricardo Rodriguez | Granit Xhaka |
Cameroon | Vincent Aboubakar | Bryan Mbuemo | Moumi Ngamaleu | Bryan Mbuemo | Bryan Mbuemo | Moumi Ngamaleu |
Group H
Nation | Penalties (Main) | Penalties (Alternate) | Free Kicks (Main) | Free Kicks (Alternate 1) | Free Kicks (Alternate 2) | Corners (Main) | Corners (Alternate 1) | Corners (Alternate 2) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portugal | Cristiano Ronaldo | Bruno Fernandes | Cristiano Ronaldo | Bruno Fernandes | Bernardo Silva | Bruno Fernandes | Bernardo Silva | Rafael Leao |
Ghana | Andre Ayew | Iñaki Williams | Andre Ayew | Iñaki Williams | Mohammed Kudus | |||
Uruguay | Luis Suarez | Darwin Núñez | Nicolás de la Cruz | Luis Suarez | Nicolás de la Cruz | |||
Korea Republic | Son Heung-Min | Hwang Hee-Chan | Son Heung-min | Kim Jin-Su | Son Heung-Min |
Which player is likely to score the most from free kicks at the World Cup?
This is actually a great question.
A good number of teams have players who are capable of delivering inch perfect corners and free kicks, such as:
- Kevin De Bruyne – Belgium;
- Neymar – Brazil; and
- Lionel Messi – Argentina

The Argentinian maestro is especially good at curving one in beyond the wall, as he’s registered an astonishing 60 free kick goals in his career so far.
You’d expect Messi to score at least one or two in the tournament, particularly if Argentina progress to the later rounds of the competition.
Also don’t be surprised to see some famous footballers lying down behind the free kick wall, because the match stakes will be extremely high.
Can you imagine a player sneaking the ball under the wall and into the goal with a low driven ground shot?
Well, players at this level are entirely capable of pulling off such attempts, so you should grow accustomed to seeing defenders literally put their bodies on the line!
Changelog
Unfortunately, there are a number of players who have picked up injuries that will keep them out of the upcoming tournament.
Others simply missed out on final team selection having featured in qualifying matches and friendlies.
Here’s a short changelog to the set piece takers list that indicates which players miss out and their potential replacements for dead ball duty:
- Karim Benzema > Kylian Mbappe first choice to take penalties
- Phillipe Coutinho > Raphinha promoted to backup penalty taker as Coutinho wasn’t selected
- Sadio Mane > Ismaïla Sarr potentially takes spot kick duty as Mane misses the tournament because of a knee injury
Closing thoughts
This short article should have provided you with the information you need when it comes to each participating team’s set piece takers at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
If you’ve enjoyed reading this post, then you’d probably also enjoy our league specific articles which cover Europe’s top set piece specialists, such as:
- The set piece takers in the English Premier League;
- French Ligue 1’s set piece specialists;
- Italian Serie A set piece takers for 2022/2023;
- German Bundesliga set piece list for 2022/2023; and
- Spanish La Liga set piece takers for the 2022/2023 season
Alternatively, you can have a look at our detailed guide on the 2022 World Cup stadiums that will be used in Qatar.
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