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The battle for the Golden Boot trophy is intensifying as the 2025-26 season approaches its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the past three campaigns, the prize remains wide open. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to win the trophy back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the mix this campaign, but faces stiff competition from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of games left to play, other players still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was first launched in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the leading scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's tallies are weighted with a specific coefficient based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA rankings, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in all other European leagues are worth one point.

While the honor has been shared on several instances in the past, a regulation update 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 tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the fewest goals from the penalty spot. Only after these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

At present, a three-way race exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three most recent 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

In fourth is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's side RFS, who has netted 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 matches this term.

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

Reviewing Previous Winners

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

Portuguese icon Eusebio claimed the first-ever 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 secured the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

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

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

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

Erling Haaland scooped 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 same goal tally 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 very trio are battling at the summit of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane presently leading the way.