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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season nears its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the last three campaigns, the honor remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to win the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the mix this season, but faces stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

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

Since the 1997-98, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based points system. Under this method, a player's goals are multiplied by a designated coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd 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 multiple instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the event of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next tiebreaker is the total of assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the award be split.

Identifying the Main Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse race exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

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

The remainder of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that operate on a January-to-December schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusebio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He then won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six times during his 17-year spell at Barcelona.

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

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before proceeding to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

The prize has seen a different winner in each of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland scooped 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 total for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard once more this season, with Kane currently out in front the way.