Goals are the heartbeat of football; they ignite passion and define outcomes. Spectacular goals vie for the prestigious Puskas Award every year. From long-range strikes to acrobatic efforts, contenders set new standards with Alejandro Garnacho and Lamine Yamal making the list.
Goals are the heartbeat and lifeblood of football , defining the outcome of every match and igniting the passion of players and fans alike. They are the ultimate objective, the moments of glory that turn games on their head and immortalize players in the sport's long-seated history. The only thing that beats a goal in the beautiful game, however, is a spectacular one.
It sounds pretty simple, but when you consider that there is an entire award dedicated to determining what the best strike of the year is, things become a whole lot more complicated, and figuring out which effort should win the 2024 Puskas Award will take days of research. From audacious long-range strikes to intricate team plays and mesmerizing solo efforts, this year's contenders have set a new standard for showreel football. In the past, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo , Mo Salah, and James Rodriguez have claimed the award, and now it's time to settle the score on who should join them on the goalscoring pedestal ahead of the September ceremony.
From 2009-2023 - who has scored the best Puskas Award winning-goal? 10 Alasdair Adams Unfortunately, context isn't the alpha and omega of the Puskas Award. Otherwise, Alasdair Adams would have a much better shout at being the overall winner. Seriously, if nobody filmed this one, nobody would ever believe it happened.
It's truly sensational for someone who usually wears the gloves. Scottish Championship side Arbroath were forced into a change as Aaron Steele went off injured, with substitute stopper Alasdair Adams having to fill in as a striker. The result was this absolute rocket, which was the catalyst in them securing a 2-2 comeback draw, and it's safe to suggest he may never find himself between the sticks again! 9 Harry Kane In 559 club appearances across his career, Harry Kane has scored a staggering 351 goals, breaking records and rewriting history along the way.
But despite this illustrious backlog, there may be no better strike from the Englishman than his stunning goal against Darmstadt in the Bundesliga last season. From within his own half, the former Tottenham talisman took one look up at the Allianz Arena before floating a strike from 56 metres out and into the back of the net as Bayern Munich ripped eventually relegated Darmstadt to shreds. An 8-0 scoreline was significant in itself, but the audacity of England's all-time top goalscorer added salt to the gaping wounds.
8 Lamine Yamal A 16-year-old scoring a strike as good as this to help his nation progress into a major international tournament that they would eventually go on to win is just extraordinary. As was the case with Alasdair Adams in 10th, though, context means very little to the adjudicators, which limits just how far up the power rankings Lamine Yamal could be. GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: At 16 years 362 days, Yamal's semi-final strike against France saw him become the youngest-ever goalscorer at a European Championship.
The Barcelona wonderkid shifted the ball onto his left foot and curled a stunning shot in off the post from 25 yards in a pulsating first half of the Euros semi-final. But while it was a great goal, and not much can be said against that claim, the fact it was hit from the ground will only limit his chances in a competition where acrobatic strikes rule the roost. From Kobbie Mainoo to Aleksandar Pavlovic, here are the Golden Boy 2024 Power Rankings.
7 Mikael Severo Speaking of acrobatics, take a look at this one. Scored by Brazilian midfielder Mikael Severo, who curiously plies his trade in the under-the-radar Hong Kong Premier League, the latest entry in the power ranking sees a bicycle kick scored from a seemingly impossible angle. This one baffles the goalkeeper as much as it does any average viewer of the beautiful game.
It really doesn't matter how many times the goal is replayed, nobody can quite get over the physics behind it. As the ball looks to be bouncing out of play, up stepped the 31-year-old to loop it over a rooted opposition goalkeeper. 6 Sandro Wolfinger The actual Puskas Award shortlist always features a few players you’ve never heard of.
And so FC Balzers’ Sandro Wolfinger pulling out this unreal volley for Lichtenstein fits the criteria spectacularly. After a decent-looking corner fails to be nodded in, the ball rebounded back to the edge of the box. But as danger appeared to be cleared, the 32-year-old popped up out of nowhere to thunder the ball into the top-left corner.
Looping, dipping, and rocketing - the Bosnian goalkeeper stood no chance. It's just a shame the match finished 2-1 in Wolfinger's opponents' favour. 5 Dries Mertens 'Another volley?' Said - in a fed-up undertone - by no true football fan ever.
From here on in, all these goals are volleys of some sort of genre, and it's easy to see why they get so many plaudits. Around this time 12 months ago, Napoli icon Dries Mertens already got fans and media alike speaking up a potential Goal of the Season award. Now playing for Galatasary, the Belgian found himself unmarked more than 20 yards out and caught perhaps the sweetest volley he will ever hit in his career when he latched onto the end of a corner in the second qualifying round for the 2023/24 Champions League .
4 Achmad Faizul It wouldn’t be the Puskas Award without a contender from a player you’ve never heard of, playing for a club you’ve never heard of, in a league you didn’t know existed – in this case, Achmad Faizul, playing for Persibo Bojonegoro, in the Indonesian third tier. As the cross came into the box, any normal-thinking attacker would think about heading the ball towards goal. But not Faizul.
Instead, he jumped into the air, pirouetted, and executed a superb flick that looped up and over a dumbfounded goalkeeper. This one really does put the 'beautiful' in 'beautiful game' - a rare but much-welcomed blend of ballet, gymnastics, and football. 3 Alejandro Garnacho After Manchester United played Everton in what was supposed to be somewhat of a dead-rubber Premier League fixture, Sky Sports pundit, Gary Neville, claimed that Alejandro Garnacho's goal was the best overhead kick he’s ever seen.
But the mad thing is, the former Red Devils full-back had also witnessed Wayne Rooney's one in the derby. Nevertheless, it can't exactly be argued that the Argentinean's goal deserves its place this high up in the power rankings. The fact it doesn't need much of an introduction says it all.
The height he jumped before smacking the ball beyond Jordan Pickford is very reminiscent of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo . Wonder goals from Alejandro Garnacho, Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Paul Scholes and David Beckham all feature. 2 Patrick Bamford If you watched this goal without knowing who scored it, you'd be quite easily forgiven for guessing it was a prime Dennis Bergkamp.
But it isn't. Time and time again, the magic of the FA Cup shines through in unassuming moments, and this was certainly the case for Leeds United's Patrick Bamford . For a lot of his recent endeavours, injuries have marred Bamford's career.
It seemed like, for a while, that he had completely dropped off the face of the planet. But this stunner, which saw him bring down a cross-field pass with his chest before unleashing a strike that likened his right foot to a traction engine very quickly got people singing his name again. 1 Walter Bou Millions of football fans will have dreamed about scoring a 90th-minute winner to earn glory for their team.
Legions of aspiring footballers will even envisage bagging a screamer on the biggest stage. Few will have had the audacity to even consider pulling off what Walter Bou had done, however. The 30-year-old Lanus forward has scored 15 goals in 24 appearances in 2024, but none will be able to hold a candle to his 16th effort against Tigre.
With the scoreline sitting at 2-2, Bou chested a powerful pass into him off his chest and produced a long-range bicycle kick that was so gorgeous it could be turned into a painting. It's perhaps the most rewatchable goal you'll see for quite some time; a real superbike of the bicycle world..
