🔗 Share this article

The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season approaches its mid-season juncture.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the running this season, but faces formidable rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures left to play, other talents still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to honor the top goalscorer in 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 points system. Under this format, a player's tallies are weighted with a specific coefficient based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

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

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

Who are the Main Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners separated by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (English 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

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

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

Reviewing Previous Recipients

Throughout its 59-year history, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest stars.

Portuguese legend 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 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six separate times during his long tenure at Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for most goals in a single season 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 2016-17 to 2018-19.

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

The first player to win the award while at an club in England was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

The award 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 thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the same goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning winner of the award after scoring 31 goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.

Now, the very three players are battling at the top of the standings again this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.