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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is intensifying as the 2025-26 season nears its midway point.

With a new winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to win the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the French publication L'Equipe to honor the leading scorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based points system. Under this format, a player's tallies are weighted with a specific multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

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 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 tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are used would the award be split.

Who are the Main Challengers?

As it stands, a three-way tussle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvia's 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 term.

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

A Look at Past Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusebio won 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 legend Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six times during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for highest tally in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date to win it in three successive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first 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 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 scooped the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the same 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 trio are vying at the top of the standings again this campaign, with Kane currently out in front the pack.