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The competition for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the 2025-26 season approaches its midway point.

With a different winner in every one of the past three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based player to win the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prolific Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the running this term, but encounters formidable rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many games remaining, other players still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the top 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 points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are weighted with a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese league, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues are worth one point.

While the award has been shared on several instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the event of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the deadlock remains, the next tiebreaker is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only if these tiebreakers are used would the prize be split.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way tussle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga games.
• 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 games.

In fourth place is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's side RFS, who has scored 28 goals (28 points) across their 36 league games in 2025.

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

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

Reviewing Past Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio claimed the inaugural trophy in 1968, scoring forty-two goals for SL Benfica. He then secured 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 most goals in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to date to win it in three straight seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 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 thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The prize has seen a new winner in every one of the past 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 secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the same total for Bayern Munich the next season.

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

Now, the same three players are competing at the summit of the leaderboard again this season, with Kane presently out in front the way.