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

With a different winner in every one of the last three campaigns, the award remains highly contested. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to secure the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this season, but encounters stiff competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures remaining, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to recognize the highest goalscorer 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 points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a specific multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

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

While the award has been jointly won on several instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the event of a tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the award be shared.

Identifying the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-way battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga fixtures.
• 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 matches.

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

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

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

Reviewing Previous Recipients

Throughout its nearly six-decade history, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic stars.

Portuguese icon Eusebio won the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six separate times during his long tenure at Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date 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 three more times with Real Madrid.

The first player to win the award while at an club in England was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he scored 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland scooped the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the very trio are competing at the summit of the standings again this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.