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

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains wide open. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to secure the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the mix this term, but faces stiff competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the leading scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

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

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

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

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

If the tie persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse tussle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners separated by just a solitary 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 just behind 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 their 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 top 10 is comprised of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Winners

Throughout its 59-year existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's biggest names.

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six occasions during his long spell at Barcelona.

Messi established 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 ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

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

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

The prize has seen a new winner in each of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland claimed 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 same total for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the summit of the standings again this season, with Kane presently leading the way.