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The contest for the prestigious Golden Shoe is heating up as the current season passes its midway point.

With a different winner in each of the last three campaigns, the award remains highly contested. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to claim the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the hunt this term, but faces stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

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

Since the 1997-98, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted scoring system. Under this method, a player's goals are weighted with a designated multiplier 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, Italian Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are valued at two points apiece.

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's list, 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 jointly won on several occasions in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of league assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these tiebreakers are used would the prize be split.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-horse race exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners split by just a single 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 outings.
• 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 their 36 league games in 2025.

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

The remainder of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the first-ever 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 record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six occasions during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

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

Portuguese megastar 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 inaugural 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 FC.

The award has seen a new winner in each of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his maiden Golden Shoe with the same goal tally for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the very trio are vying at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.