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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season approaches its midway point.

With a new winner in each of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to secure the award back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the mix this term, but encounters formidable competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many games remaining, other players still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to honor the leading goalscorer in league matches from a European top division 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 weighted with a specific multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA rankings, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues carry one point.

While the award has been jointly won on several instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the award be split.

Identifying the Primary Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse tussle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a solitary 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side 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 comprised of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Winners

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six times during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for highest tally 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 first won award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United before going on to win it three more times 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 scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a different winner in every one of the past 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 secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the very three players are battling at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently out in front the pack.