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The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the 2025-26 season approaches its midway point.

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to win the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the hunt this campaign, but faces stiff competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many games remaining, 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 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the top goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated coefficient based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA list, 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 jointly won on several instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 states that in the event of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-horse battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this term.

The remainder of the top 10 is comprised of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic stars.

Portuguese legend Eusebio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for SL Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his long spell at Barcelona.

Messi established the record for most goals in a campaign with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 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 thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland claimed the prize 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 goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the summit of the leaderboard once more this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the pack.