Who is Out in Front in the Race for the Golden Boot Award?

The battle for the European Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season nears its midway point.

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

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this term, but faces formidable competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the top goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

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

Goals scored in the continent's top five leagues—the Premier League, Spanish 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 one and a half points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

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

If the deadlock remains, the next tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the award be split.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse race exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (English 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 games.

In fourth is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's side 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 fixtures this term.

The remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusebio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for Benfica. He then secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

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

Messi set the record for most goals in a single season with 50 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 claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season 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 Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland scooped the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the same goal tally for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the very trio are battling at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane currently out in front the pack.