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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the 2025-26 season approaches its midway point.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this term, but faces formidable rivalry from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the French publication L'Equipe to celebrate the top scorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, 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 specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second 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 award has been shared on several occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the event of a points tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are used would the prize be shared.

Who are the Main Challengers?

At present, a three-way race is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split by just a solitary 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

Dutch side Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this season.

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

A Look at Previous Winners

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

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six occasions during his 17-year tenure at Barcelona.

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

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season 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 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 past three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the same trio are competing at the summit of the standings once more this season, with Kane currently out in front the way.