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

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

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces tough rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the leading scorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which introduced a weighted scoring system. Under this method, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

Goals scored in Europe's five major leagues—the English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and 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 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

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

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of league assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the award be shared.

Identifying the Leading Contenders?

At present, a three-way tussle exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga games.
• 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 matches.

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

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

The remainder of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

A Look at Previous Winners

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

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the record for highest tally in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever 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 with Manchester United 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 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally 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 same three players are vying at the top of the leaderboard once more this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.