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The contest for the European Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season passes its midway point.

With a different winner in every one of the last three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this campaign, but encounters tough competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other players still have time to enter the contest.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the leading scorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted scoring system. Under this method, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

For competitions ranked from sixth to twenty-second 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 honor has been jointly won on multiple occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the award be shared.

Identifying the Leading Contenders?

At present, a three-horse battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous 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 appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie fixtures this season.

The remainder of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

Reviewing Past Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He later secured the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six times during his 17-year spell at Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first 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 club in England was Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a new winner in every one of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following year.

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 vying at the summit of the standings again this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the way.