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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the 2025-26 season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in every one of the last three campaigns, the honor remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to win the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the mix this campaign, but encounters tough rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the highest goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

Goals scored in Europe's five major leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1—are valued at two points apiece.

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the award has been jointly won on multiple occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 states that in the event of a points tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners split by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (English captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga matches.
• Erling Haaland also has 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this season.

The remainder of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Recipients

Throughout its 59-year history, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest names.

Portuguese icon Eusebio claimed the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six times during his 17-year tenure at Barcelona.

Messi set the record for highest tally in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The inaugural player to win the award while at an club in England was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a different winner in every one of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the next season.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning holder of the award after scoring thirty-one goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.

Now, the same trio are battling at the top of the standings once more this season, with Kane presently leading the way.