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The contest for the prestigious Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season passes its mid-season juncture.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the running this season, but faces stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other players still have time to enter the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the leading 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 scoring system. Under this method, a player's goals are weighted with a designated coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

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

While the award has been shared on multiple occasions in the past, a rule change 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 deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way race is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga games.
• 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 is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvia's side RFS, who has netted 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 matches this season.

The remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that operate on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Past Winners

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

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

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

Messi established the record for most goals in a campaign with 50 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 on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

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

The prize has seen a different winner in every one of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland claimed 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 same total for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the same trio are battling at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.