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The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season nears its midway point.

With a different winner in each of the past 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 the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the running this season, but encounters formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to honor the highest goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

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

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on multiple instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are used would the award be split.

Identifying the Leading Challengers?

At present, a three-way tussle is underway 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 fixtures.
• 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 Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this season.

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

A Look at Previous Winners

Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been won by some of football's biggest names.

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed 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 legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six times during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for highest tally in a campaign with fifty 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 megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

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

The award has seen a different winner in each of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland claimed the award 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 identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following 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 trio are vying at the top of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the way.