Scoring free kicks in FIFA has never been a walk in the park. It requires a lot of skill, great timing, picking the right player for the job, and a lot of other factors that you need to take into consideration before taking the shot.
To make the scoring of free kicks even more complicated, EA allows players to attempt their free kicks using a range of different free kick styles including the FIFA 22 knuckleball, topspin, trivela, and more.
In this guide, I will teach you how to score free kicks in FIFA 22.
Not only that, I’ll show you the exact technique and process for how to score using every single free kick style possible. So if you want to know how to score a knuckleball, trivelas, or any other free kick type, you’ve come to the right FIFA 22 free kick tutorial guide.
At the end of the guide, I’ll discuss a couple of important things that you need to keep in mind when executing your free-kick as well as some common mistakes that players make when taking free kicks.
But, before I get to show you all of that, let’s take a look at the different free kick styles in FIFA 22.
What Types of Free Kicks Are in FIFA 22?
In FIFA 22, I tested and mastered a total of seven free kick techniques:
- Curved/Side Spin
- Mixed Free Kick
- Knuckleball
- Top Spin
- Trivela
- Under-the-Wall
- Rabona Free Kick
- Layoff
- 2nd/3rd Man Free Kick
- Crossed Free Kick
I’ll teach you how to score with all seven of these different types in this FIFA 22 free kicks tutorial.
Things to Know Before We Start
If you’re already an experienced free kick taker in FIFA games then you can scroll past this section, but if you don’t already score plenty of free kicks then I recommend that you start by digesting these tips. They’ll be useful for maximizing your chances of scoring with the techniques that I break down below.
Pick the Right Free Kick Taker
Way before you decide what style of free kick you’re going to execute and all of the little details around it, you first need to decide on your free kick taker, which will pretty much determine the rest of the equation for successfully performing a free kick. Choose a player with high stats in free kick accuracy and shot power, and curve is another useful nice-to-have attribute.
Choose the Right Starting Position
Once you’ve chosen the player for the job, you should be aware of the fact that you can change the standing position of your player. In FIFA 22, you can pick from three free kick positions, which include wide, default, and straight.
Picking a suitable free kick position will help greatly with the overall success of your free kick depending on the style of free kick that you want to perform.
In order to change the standing position of your player, flick the right-hand stick on the controller left or right. Make sure that you don’t accidentally flick your right-hand stick downwards as that will make your player take the free kick and ultimately waste the opportunity for a goal.
After that, using your left stick, aim where you want the ball to be directed. Do note that some free kicks require you to aim outside of the goal itself in order to land on target. This might sound confusing but we’ll get to that later.
Make Use of Right Stick
Once all that is done, simply press the shooting button (B for Xbox or O for PS). The longer you hold the shoot button, the more powerful your shot will be. Do note that you’ll hardly ever need to max out your shot power, even from 30+ yards.
When your player starts to run towards the ball, it’s time for you to use your right stick in order to tell the player what sort of a free kick you are planning on executing. By moving the right stick in certain directions you’ll add different kinds of spin or movement onto the ball.
I’ve listed all of the different free kick techniques and their relevant controls below.
Time Your Finishes
Lastly, right before the player touches the ball with his kicking foot, press the shoot button once again to time the free kick. This will further improve your chances of successfully executing the free kick you’ve decided to go for, with more power and accuracy included.
A green icon will light up above your player’s head if you’ve timed it successfully.
How to Score a Curved Free Kick in FIFA 22
The curved free kick, or now also known as the side spin free kick is one of the easier free kicks to execute. It works best from 20 to 30 yards out and can be performed on either side of the goal (with both left and right-footed players).
Before you perform the curved free kick, make sure that you’ve got a player with good curve stats, your player is in the wide standing position, and that you’re aiming outside of the goal as this will allow the ball to curve into the goal.
Note: When you aim, make sure that you aim at the same level as the goal and not above the bar. If you do that, you’ll cause the ball to curve above the bar rather than into the net. Besides that, if you’re shooting from either side of the box, you don’t need to aim outside of the perimeter of the goal.
When you’ve positioned your free kick taker and you’ve aimed:
- Hold B (For Xbox) or O (For PS) for about 2 bars of power.
- Perform a half circle (clockwise) using your right-hand stick.
Note: Remember that the faster you move your right-hand stick, the more curve you’ll give the ball.
How to Score a Mixed Free Kick in FIFA 22
The mixed free kick is a combination of the dipped free kick and the curved free kick. Similar to the curved free kick, in order to perform this free kick successfully, aim outside of the goal (about halfway from the maximum distance).
Once you do that load the bar with 2/2.5 bars of power depending on the distance. As soon as you see your player running towards the ball, move your right stick down and up in an anti-clockwise motion without touching the sides – sort of halfway to the right.
To increase your chances of scoring a goal from the mixed free kick, make sure that you’re either using the wide or the default standing position.
How to Score a Knuckleball in FIFA 22
The Knuckleball free kick in FIFA 22 is one of the most difficult free kick techniques to score with.
While the execution isn’t particularly complex, the sheer unpredictability of where the ball is going to go is what makes this free kick technique so difficult to convert consistently.
In order to score knuckleballs in FIFA 22, make use of a player that has quite a lot of power in their striking foot. Some great examples include Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and David Luiz.
After that, choose either a straight-on or default standing position and aim towards one of the corners of the goal.
Then, simply:
- Press B (for Xbox) or O (for PS) and hold until you reach around 3 to 3.5 bars depending on range.
- Once the player heads towards the ball, flick your right-hand stick down, up, and down again.
If you’ve done everything right, remember to time the finish by pressing shoot again just before you strike the ball, then hope for the best.
Once you learn the mechanics of the knuckleball, you’ll see a pattern between what works and what doesn’t. If you do everything above effectively then your knuckleball free kick should be accurate, powerful, and have plenty of movement on it.
Note: Please remember that the distance between the ball and the goal is super important. As knuckleball free kicks are naturally very powerful, the ball needs to have plenty of travel time to go over the wall and then dip and land anywhere within the frame of the goal.
So, if you’re planning on taking your chances with a knuckleball in FIFA 22 from 20 yards out, that’s probably not a great idea. Likewise, it’s also not suitable for super long-range free kick opportunities. The perfect range for a knuckleball free kick is between 30 to 40 yards out.
How to Score a Top Spin Free Kick in FIFA 22
Top spin free kicks are amongst the easiest style of free kick to execute. Top spin free kicks are most suitable for free kicks that are between 20 to 30 yards away from the goal. They can be executed on both the left and the right sides of the net. Do note that the further to the side you go, the more difficult it will be for you to score a goal.
Before you go ahead and shoot, make sure that you have selected the right player for the job, you are using either the straight or the default standing free kick position, and that you’re aiming at the top of the goal (above the bar) in the direction where you want to kick the ball.
Once you’ve selected your player and their standing position, aim slightly above the crossbar and press shoot. The further out you are, the more you’ll want to aim above the crossbar (but not too high, and this does depend on the power you’re putting onto the shot too).
- Hold B (For Xbox) or O (For PS) for 2/2.5 bars depending on distance.
- Flick the right stick of your controller UP and DOWN.
If you’ve done everything right, the ball should go in at the back of the net.
How to Score Trivela Free Kicks in FIFA 22
The Trivela free kick is a one-of-a-kind technique that was inspired by Roberto Carlos, who scored one of the most memorable free kick goals in football’s history back in 1997 using the outside of his boot and putting an amount of swerve onto the ball that humans didn’t know was possible.
Scoring Trivela free kicks on FIFA 22 can be quite complicated and I wouldn’t blame you if you completely mess it up the first couple of times.
To set yourself up for success, pick a player that has a lot of power and position them in the straight standing position behind the ball. Note that no other standing position would work for this type of free kick.
After that, aim outside of the goal (as far away as you can while keeping the target on the same height as the bar), and load up the power bar up to 3 bars. Do note that you can go a little higher if the goal is a little further than 30 yards.
Once your player starts to move towards the ball, simply move your right-hand stick down followed by an anti-clockwise motion upwards (reverse direction of the curve). As an example, if a left-footed player is taking the Trivela free kick, move your right-hand stick down followed by an anti-clockwise motion upwards. If your player is right-footed, move your right-hand stick down followed by a clockwise motion upwards.
It’s also best if you use a left-footed player if the free kick is to the right facing the goal and a right-footed player if the free kick position is to the left facing the goal.
How to Score Under-the-Wall Free Kicks in FIFA 22
The low-driven free kick or the under-the-wall free kick is one of the easiest free kicks to perform. All it requires you to do is aim at the bottom of the wall while still keeping the aim exactly where you want to direct the ball.
For this particular shot, you need about 1-1.5-2 bars of power maximum depending on the distance from the goal. This will ensure that the ball doesn’t fly too high and come in contact with the defender’s body. This type of free kick works best with the wide or the default standing position and I’d recommend you use one of your typical free kick players to execute the shot.
Do note that for this free kick to work, your opponent will need to make their wall of defenders jump so that the ball can slide straight underneath the player’s feet. If he doesn’t do that, then your free kick will fail.
How to Score Rabona Free Kicks in FIFA 22
When it comes to Rabona free kicks, you can only cross in the ball. You can’t strike directly at the goal using the technique. To cross the ball, simply tap the cross button on your controller, which is square for PS and X for Xbox. Once the player starts to make a run towards the ball, hold LT for Xbox or L2 for PS during the entire run-up. Then, the ball will be crossed using the Rabona technique.
Note: Rabona free kicks are only possible using Cristiano Ronaldo and players with 4-star skill foot or above and those that have the flair trait.
How to Score a Layoff Free Kick in FIFA 22
Lay off free kicks are when your free kick taker passes the ball to a nearby player who then strikers it towards the net – essentially like a long-shot. With layoff free kicks, you can either pass (on the ground or chip-pass) the ball and strike it or continue to play as you see fit.
One thing worth noting is that with a layoff free kick, you can either pass the ball to your opponent or chip it, which would ultimately set it up for a volley.
To pass the ball on the ground, simply hold L2 + X (for PS) or LT + A (for Xbox). To chip pass the ball and set it up for a volley, hold L2 + Square (for PS) or LT + X (for Xbox).
How to Score a 2nd/3rd Man Free Kick in FIFA 22
If you want to spice up your free kicks a little bit or confuse your opponent a little more with your free kick approach, then adding 2 extra players into the mix is a great idea. One thing to note is that scoring with your 2nd or 3rd man can be a little confusing, especially if you’ve never tried it before.
Before you begin to think about taking the free kick with your 2nd or 3rd man, you need to call them to the free kick. To call your 2nd man, press RB (for Xbox) or R1 (for PS). To call your 3rd man, press LT (for Xbox) or L1 (for PS).
Note: You can bring both your 2nd and 3rd man at the same time, or individually by pressing the relevant button.
Once all of the free kick takers are positioned, you can score any of the free kicks that we’ve discussed in this guide by following the individual free kick instructions. To decide on whether your 2nd or 3rd player should take it, simply either hold the relevant above-mentioned buttons – RB/R1 or LT/L1.
How to Score From a Crossed Free Kick in FIFA 22
If your free kick position isn’t suitable for any of the free kicks listed above or you’d rather not take your chances with blowing your opportunity for scoring a goal, then what you can do is simply cross in the ball to a nearby player and try to score with them.
What you really need to look for is an available player and direct the ball to them. Once you get the ball to the target player, then you know what you need to do from there.
Mistakes to Avoid
While some players make critical mistakes during the execution of the free kick, others fail to set themselves up for success right from the beginning. After learning the ins and outs of free kicks in FIFA 22, I wanted to dedicate a section within this guide on some of the most common mistakes players make when taking any type of free kick in FIFA 22.
Using the Wrong Player
One of the biggest mistakes that I’ve made and have seen other people make is simply using the wrong player for the free kick style that you want to perform. Some players are naturally built to execute particular free kicks better.
As an example, Gareth Bale, David Luiz, and Cristiano Ronaldo are phenomenal players for the knuckleball free kick style. For curled free kicks, you should consider players in the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Mohamed Salah.
Performing an Unsuitable Free Kick Style
If you’re 20 yards out, it’s probably not a great idea to go for a knuckleball. This is because knuckleball free kicks in particular require a lot of power and the ball won’t have enough time to dip after passing the wall of defenders.
Likewise, if you’re shooting from 30+ yards, you should go for a curved free kick as those are generally quite slow, meaning that the keeper will easily get to where the ball is heading and catch it.
Using Too Much Power
Some free kicks on FIFA 22 require a lot less power than others. As an example, knuckleball free kicks require a lot more power, meaning your power bar should be at 3+ bars. For a normal curved free kick, your bar shouldn’t go over the 2/2.5 bars as that would cause you to kick the ball over the goal.
No two free kick styles are the same. Some require more power than others, and some require a whole lot less, even if you think it’s unrealistic. I’ve carefully outlined how much power you need for each of the free kicks.
Do note that as the distance increases from the goal, you should always go for a little bit more power. Once you get to practice the different free kicks in-game, you’ll eventually get a natural feel for how much power you need to get the ball at the back of the net.
