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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the current season nears its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the award remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the mix this season, but encounters stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

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

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

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

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues carry one point.

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

If the tie remains, the next tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Identifying the Primary Challengers?

At present, a three-horse tussle is underway for the 2025-26 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 outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side 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 comprised of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Winners

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

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six times during his 17-year spell at Barcelona.

Messi set the record 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 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

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

Erling Haaland claimed the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total 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 very three players are vying at the top of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.