Who's Out in Front in the Race for the Golden Shoe?
The competition for the European Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the 2025-26 season nears its halfway mark.
With a different winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the award remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to secure the trophy back in 2022-23.
The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the hunt this campaign, but faces stiff rivalry from Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.
What is the European Golden Shoe Award?
The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the highest scorer in league matches from a European top division league.
Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific coefficient based on the strength ranking of their league.
Goals scored in Europe's top five leagues—the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are valued at two points each.
For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA 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 award has been shared on several instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the event of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.
If the tie remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these criteria are used would the prize be split.
Who are the Main Contenders?
Currently, a three-horse battle exists 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 outings.
- Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.
In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has netted 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 season.
The remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.
A Look at Past Winners
Throughout its nearly six-decade history, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest stars.
Portuguese legend Eusebio won the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.
Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six separate times during his long tenure at Barcelona.
Messi established the record 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 successive seasons from 2016 to 2019.
Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it three more times 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 netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool FC.
The prize has seen a new winner in every one of the past three seasons.
Erling Haaland claimed the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the following season.
Kylian Mbappe is the reigning holder of the award after scoring thirty-one goals (62 points) for Real Madrid in 2024-25.
Now, the same trio are competing at the summit of the standings again this season, with Kane currently leading the pack.
