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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season approaches its halfway mark.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this season, but faces formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures remaining, other players still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to celebrate the highest scorer in league matches from a European top-flight 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 goals are weighted with a specific coefficient based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues 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 all other European leagues carry one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on multiple occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the next deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Identifying the Main Challengers?

At present, a three-horse race is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners split by just a solitary 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 Latvian side RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

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

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

Reviewing Previous Winners

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed the first-ever 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 most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate times during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the record for highest tally 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 2016-17 to 2018-19.

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

The prize has seen a new 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-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his first Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the next year.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning winner 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 once more this season, with Kane currently out in front the pack.