Who is Out in Front in the Contest for the European Golden Shoe?

The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is heating up as the current season passes its halfway mark.

With a different winner in each of the last three campaigns, the honor 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 mix this season, but faces tough competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the top scorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award 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 multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd 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 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 points tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

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

Identifying the Main Contenders?

Currently, a three-horse battle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

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

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

A Look at Past Recipients

Throughout its 59-year history, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest stars.

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate occasions during his 17-year spell at Barcelona.

Messi established the record for most goals in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before going on to win it three more times 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 scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a different winner in each 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 earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following year.

Kylian Mbappe is the current holder 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 leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.