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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is intensifying as the 2025-26 season nears its mid-season juncture.

With a new winner in each of the past three campaigns, the award remains highly contested. 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 once again in the hunt this campaign, but encounters stiff competition from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other talents still have time to enter the fray.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 season by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the highest goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which introduced a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

Goals scored in the continent's five major leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, Serie A, and French Ligue 1—are valued at two points each.

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA rankings, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth 1.5 points. Goals in lower-ranked European leagues carry one point.

While the award has been jointly won on several occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 dictates that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

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

Who are the Primary Contenders?

Currently, a three-way battle is underway for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (England captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga fixtures.
• Erling Haaland also has 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League outings.
• Kylian Mbappe sits one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga matches.

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

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

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

A Look at Past Winners

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

Portuguese legend Eusébio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for SL Benfica. He then won the award for a second time in the 1972-73.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six occasions during his 17-year spell at Barcelona.

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

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Manchester United before proceeding 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 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

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

Erling Haaland claimed the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane earned his first Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the next season.

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning holder 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 top of the standings again this season, with Kane presently leading the way.