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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season nears its halfway mark.

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

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this season, but faces tough rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many games left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was introduced in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the leading goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

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

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

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

While the honor has been shared on multiple occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of league assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-way battle is underway for the 2025-26 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 matches.
• Erling Haaland also has 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

Dutch side Feyenoord striker 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 made up of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Past Recipients

Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest names.

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He then won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

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 highest tally in a campaign 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 superstar 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 first player to win the award while at an English club was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

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

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

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

Now, the very trio are competing at the top of the leaderboard once more this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.