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

With a different winner in each of the past three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based player to secure the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces formidable competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other talents still have time to enter the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the top goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's goals are weighted with a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese league, 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 states that in the case of a tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the award be shared.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse race exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (England 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

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

The rest of the top 10 is comprised of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions 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 with Man Utd 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 Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a new winner in every one of the last three seasons.

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

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 competing at the summit of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane currently leading the way.