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The contest for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season nears its halfway mark.

With a different winner in each of the past three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to win the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but faces tough competition from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other players still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

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

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

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

For competitions 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 are worth one point.

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

If the tie remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of league assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the award be shared.

Identifying the Leading Challengers?

At present, a three-way battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated by just a solitary 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

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

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

A Look at Previous Recipients

Throughout its nearly six-decade history, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic legends.

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set 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 megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The first player to win the award while at an English club 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 last three seasons.

Erling Haaland scooped the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the very trio are competing at the summit of the standings once more this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.