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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the current season nears its midway point.

With a new winner in each of the past three campaigns, the honor remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to claim the award back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the running this term, but faces tough competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the France-based publication L'Equipe to honor the top scorer in domestic 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 weighted points system. Under this method, a player's goals are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd 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 honor has been shared on several instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 states that in the case of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

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

Identifying the Main Contenders?

At present, a three-horse battle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga fixtures.
• 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 RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this season.

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 nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic names.

Portuguese icon Eusebio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for highest tally in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar 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 club in England was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

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-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane currently out in front the way.