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The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the current season approaches its midway point.

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

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the running this term, but encounters stiff competition from Bayern Munich forward 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.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the France-based publication L'Equipe to celebrate the top scorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted points system. Under this method, a player's goals are multiplied by a designated 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, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Ligue 1—are valued at two points each.

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's rankings, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in lower-ranked 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 tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

As it stands, a three-way battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England 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 matches.

In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 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 remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Winners

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six times during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for most goals 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 consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar 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 inaugural player to win the award while at an club in England was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he scored 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a new winner in every one of the last three seasons.

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

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

Now, the very three players are battling at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.