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The battle for the European Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season nears its halfway mark.

With a different winner in each of the previous three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to claim the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the hunt this term, but faces formidable competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many games left to play, 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 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to recognize the highest goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a weighted points system. Under this method, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's rankings, 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 jointly won on several occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Identifying the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian 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 term.

The rest of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for Benfica. He then secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six times during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for highest tally in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United before proceeding 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 scored 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland claimed 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 identical total for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the pack.