🔗 Share this article

The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the 2025-26 season nears its midway point.

With a new winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the prize remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to claim the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the mix this campaign, but encounters formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to enter the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

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

Since the 1997-98, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are weighted with a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

While the award has been shared on several instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 states that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are used would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

At present, a three-horse battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (English 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 games.

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

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

The remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that operate on a January-to-December schedule.

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed 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 won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six times during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the record for highest tally in a single season with 50 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 claimed his first award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United 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 Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

The prize has seen a new 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 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following year.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning 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 once more this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the way.