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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the award back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the mix this campaign, but encounters stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games left to play, other talents still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the highest scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

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

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on several instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

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

Who are the Main Contenders?

As it stands, a three-horse race is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a single goal.

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

Dutch side Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures 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 Past Recipients

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

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

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six separate times during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for most goals in a campaign with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three straight seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

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

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

Erling Haaland scooped the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the same trio are vying at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane presently leading the way.