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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the 2025-26 season nears its halfway mark.

With a different winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to secure the award back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the hunt this season, but faces stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches left to play, other talents still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the French publication L'Equipe to celebrate the leading goalscorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

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

Goals scored in the continent's top five leagues—the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Ligue 1—are valued at 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 lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

While the award has been shared on several occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the case of a points tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Identifying the Leading Challengers?

Currently, a three-way race is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners split 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures 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 Winners

Throughout its 59-year existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic stars.

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six occasions during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for highest tally in a single season 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 Man Utd before going on to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

The prize has seen a new winner in each of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland claimed the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the following season.

Kylian Mbappe is the current winner of the award after scoring 31 goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.

Now, the very trio are competing at the top of the leaderboard once more this season, with Kane presently out in front the way.