Who is Leading in the Contest for the European Golden Shoe?

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

With a new winner in each of the last three campaigns, the honor remains wide open. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this term, but encounters formidable competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, 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 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the top goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based points system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

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

While the award has been shared on several instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the next deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are used would the prize be split.

Who are the Main Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse race is underway for the current season's 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian club RFS, who has scored 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 season.

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

A Look at Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio won 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 maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six times during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi established 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 successive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar 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 English club was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

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

Erling Haaland claimed the award 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 following 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 three players are battling at the summit of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.