🔗 Share this article Who is Out in Front in the Pursuit for the Golden Shoe? The battle for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the 2025-26 season approaches its mid-season juncture. With a different winner in each of the previous three campaigns, the award remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to secure the award back in 2022-23. The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the running this campaign, but encounters formidable rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray. Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, and Kylian Mbappe have all won one European Golden Shoe to date. Understanding the Golden Shoe? The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the French publication L'Equipe to honor the top scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league. Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a points-based points system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league. Goals scored in the continent's five major leagues—the Premier League, La Liga, German Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1—are worth two points apiece. For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point. While the honor has been shared on multiple instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played. If the tie persists, the next deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the award be split. Identifying the Primary Contenders? Currently, a three-way tussle exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent winners separated by just a solitary goal. Harry Kane (English captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga games. 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 games. In fourth place is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian club RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025. Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this term. The remainder of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule. Reviewing Past Winners Lionel Messi holds the record for the most Golden Shoe awards in the award's history with six wins. Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's most iconic legends. Portuguese icon Eusebio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He then won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season. Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate occasions during his long spell at FC Barcelona. Messi set the record for most goals in a campaign with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to ever to win it in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2019. Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before proceeding 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 scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool. The award has seen a different winner in every one of the last three seasons. Erling Haaland scooped the prize 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 identical total for Bayern Munich the next season. 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 trio are vying at the top of the standings again this campaign, with Kane currently out in front the pack.