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The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is heating up as the 2025-26 season approaches its midway point.

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to secure the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the mix this season, but faces formidable competition from Bayern Munich forward 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 European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to celebrate the top goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a points-based points system. Under this method, a player's tallies are multiplied by a specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA rankings, 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 shared on multiple 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 fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the next tiebreaker is the number of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

As it stands, a three-way battle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England 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 Latvia's club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this season.

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

A Look at Previous Winners

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 42 goals for SL Benfica. He then secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six separate occasions during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a campaign 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 superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before going on to win it on three further occasions 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 thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The award has seen a different winner in every one of the past three seasons.

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

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane presently leading the pack.