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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season passes its halfway mark.

With a different winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the award remains wide open. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to secure the award back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this term, but encounters stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many fixtures remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the highest goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been administered by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

Goals scored in Europe's top five leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are worth 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 instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the subsequent tiebreaker is the total of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Identifying the Main Challengers?

Currently, a three-horse battle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners split 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 one back 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.

Dutch side Feyenoord striker Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this term.

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

Reviewing Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio claimed the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for SL Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the record for highest tally in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before proceeding to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

The award has seen a different 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 first Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following year.

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 competing at the summit of the standings again this season, with Kane currently out in front the pack.