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

With a new winner in each of the last three campaigns, the award remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based player to secure the award back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the mix this campaign, but encounters formidable competition from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the leading goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based scoring 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 Europe's top five leagues—the Premier League, La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are valued at two points each.

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

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

If the tie remains, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Main Contenders?

Currently, a three-way 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 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 Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

Dutch side Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is tied for fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this season.

The rest of the current top ten is made up of players from leagues that operate on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Past Winners

Throughout its nearly six-decade history, the Golden Shoe has been awarded to some of football's biggest legends.

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six separate occasions during his long spell at 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 consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before going on to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

The first player to win the award while at an English club was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a different winner in each of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following 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 very three players are battling at the top of the standings again this season, with Kane presently out in front the way.