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The battle for the Golden Boot trophy is heating up as the current season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based striker to win the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the hunt this term, but encounters formidable competition from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games left to play, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the French publication L'Equipe to honor the leading scorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a points-based points system. Under this method, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

Goals scored in Europe's five major leagues—the English Premier League, La Liga, German Bundesliga, Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are worth two points apiece.

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in all other European leagues are worth one point.

While the award has been jointly won on several occasions 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 remains, the next deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

As it stands, a three-way race is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated 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 just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's side RFS, who has netted 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 fixtures this season.

The rest of the top 10 is comprised of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Past Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL 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, collecting the award on six separate occasions during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for highest tally in a campaign with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Man Utd 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 Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland claimed the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his first Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next year.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the summit of the leaderboard once more this campaign, with Kane currently out in front the way.