🔗 Share this article

The contest for the prestigious Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season passes its halfway mark.

With a new 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 player to secure the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the mix this season, but faces stiff competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the leading goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

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

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

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

If the deadlock remains, the next deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-horse race exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvian side 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 matches this term.

The remainder of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Winners

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

Portuguese legend Eusebio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for SL Benfica. He then secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

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

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Man Utd 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 scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a new winner in every one of the past three seasons.

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

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

Now, the same trio are competing at the top of the leaderboard once more this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.