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The contest for the European Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season approaches its mid-season juncture.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the running this term, but faces formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures remaining, other players still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was introduced in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to celebrate the top 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 implemented a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's 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 instances 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 least minutes played.

If the tie remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the award be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

Currently, a three-way tussle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated by just a single 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth is Darko Lemajic of Latvian club RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 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 remainder of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Winners

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the first-ever 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 record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six separate times during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for most goals in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese superstar 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 English club was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

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

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

Now, the very three players are competing at the summit of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.