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

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the honor remains highly contested. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to claim the award back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the hunt this campaign, but faces tough competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 season by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the top scorer in league matches from a European top division league.

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

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues are worth one point.

While the award has been jointly won on multiple occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the case of a points tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are used would the award be shared.

Who are the Main Challengers?

At present, a three-horse battle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners separated by just a solitary 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this season.

The rest of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Winners

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his long spell at Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for highest tally in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

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

The first player to win the award while at an English club was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

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

Erling Haaland claimed the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following 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 battling at the summit of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.