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The contest for the Golden Boot trophy 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 honor remains wide open. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to secure the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the hunt this campaign, but encounters formidable rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures left to play, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

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

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

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA 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 instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the event of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the subsequent tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these criteria are exhausted would the award be split.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

Currently, a three-way tussle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of most recent 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 games.

In fourth is RFS striker Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 28 goals (28 points) across the club's 36 league games in 2025.

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

The rest of the top 10 is comprised of players from leagues that function on a calendar year schedule.

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusebio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He then secured 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 occasions during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the record for highest tally in a single season with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The first player to win the award while at an club in England was 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 last 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 maiden Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the same trio are vying at the top of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane currently out in front the way.