Who's Out in Front in the Pursuit for the Golden Shoe?

The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is heating up as the current season nears its mid-season juncture.

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

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the running this term, but encounters stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other talents still have time to enter the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

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

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

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

For competitions 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 are worth one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on multiple instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the event of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

Currently, a three-horse tussle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated 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 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 side RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

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

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

A Look at Previous Recipients

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

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six occasions during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season 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 Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a different winner in every one of the past 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 earned his first Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the next 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 very three players are vying at the top of the standings once more this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.