Who's Leading in the Race for the Golden Shoe?

The contest for the European Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season passes its midway point.

With a new winner in each of the last three campaigns, the award remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to secure the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the running this term, but encounters tough competition from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 season by the France-based publication L'Equipe to recognize the leading scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based points system. Under this method, a player's tallies are multiplied by a specific multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

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

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

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the award be split.

Identifying the Primary Contenders?

As it stands, a three-way tussle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners split by just a solitary 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 outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth place 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 striker 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 calendar year schedule.

A Look at Past Recipients

Throughout its 59-year existence, the Golden Shoe has been won by some of football's biggest names.

Portuguese icon Eusébio claimed 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 legend Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six separate times during his long tenure at Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for most goals in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won 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 Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a new winner in each 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 secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next year.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning winner of the award after scoring thirty-one 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 currently out in front the pack.