🔗 Share this article

The battle for the European Golden Shoe is heating up as the 2025-26 season approaches its midway point.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the running this term, but faces tough competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to enter the fray.

What is 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 recognize the top scorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

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

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the award has been jointly won on multiple instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 states that in the case of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie remains, the next deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are used would the prize be shared.

Who are the Main Contenders?

At present, a three-horse tussle exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split 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 outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has netted 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 fixtures this season.

The remainder of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Winners

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

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate occasions during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for highest tally in a campaign with fifty 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 superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

The award has seen a different winner in each of the last 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 first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the same trio are vying at the top of the standings once more this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.