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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season nears its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the past three campaigns, the award remains highly contested. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to win the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this term, but encounters stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other talents still have time to enter the contest.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to honor the highest goalscorer 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 implemented a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's goals are weighted with a designated 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 valued at two points apiece.

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the honor has been shared on multiple occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next tiebreaker is the total of assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are used would the award be shared.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse race is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split 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 Latvia's club 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 season.

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

Reviewing Previous Winners

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

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

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

Messi established the benchmark for most goals in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United before going on to win it three more times 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 new winner in every one of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his first Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next year.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning holder 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 presently leading the pack.