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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season nears its midway point.

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the award remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to win the award back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was introduced in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the top scorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

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

Goals scored in the continent's five major leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are worth two points apiece.

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on several occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie remains, the subsequent deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Identifying the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-horse race is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated by just a single 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this term.

The rest of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for SL Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his long tenure at Barcelona.

Messi established the record for most goals in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

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

The award has seen a new winner in every one of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland claimed the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the same goal tally for Bayern Munich the next season.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning winner of the award after scoring 31 goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.

Now, the very three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane currently leading the pack.