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

With a new winner in every one of the last three campaigns, the prize remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces stiff competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many games left to play, other players still have time to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the France-based publication L'Equipe to celebrate the highest scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based 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 Europe's top five leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are worth two points apiece.

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

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

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are used would the award be shared.

Who are the Main Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners split by just a single 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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 forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this term.

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

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

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

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

Messi established the benchmark for most goals 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 successive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Man Utd before proceeding to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

The first 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.

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

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the very three players are competing at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.