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The competition for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the 2025-26 season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the last three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to claim the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian striker is back in the mix this season, but faces tough competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other talents still have time to enter the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

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

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

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues are worth one point.

While the honor has been jointly won on multiple occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a points tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the award be shared.

Identifying the Main Challengers?

As it stands, a three-horse race exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (English captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga matches.
• 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 Latvian side RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across their 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 operate on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Past Winners

Throughout its 59-year existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's biggest stars.

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for highest tally in a campaign with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2019.

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

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

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

Erling Haaland won the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the same goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the top of the standings again this season, with Kane presently out in front the pack.