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The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the current season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the prize remains highly contested. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to secure the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the running this campaign, but faces stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 season by the France-based publication L'Equipe to recognize the leading goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been administered by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted scoring system. Under this method, a player's goals are weighted with a specific multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

Goals scored in Europe's top five leagues—the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, 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 one and a half points. Goals in all other European leagues are worth one point.

While the honor has been shared on several instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the next tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Identifying the Leading Contenders?

Currently, a three-way race exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners separated by just a single 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 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 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 rest of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Winners

Throughout its 59-year existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic legends.

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

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

Messi established the benchmark for highest tally in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to ever to win it in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United 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 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a new winner in every one of the last 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 first Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next season.

Kylian Mbappe is the current 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 again this season, with Kane currently out in front the pack.