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The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the 2025-26 season passes its midway point.

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

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is once again in the running this campaign, but faces tough competition from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other players still have time to enter the fray.

Understanding the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was introduced in the 1967-68 season by the French publication L'Equipe to honor the leading goalscorer in domestic league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98 season, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

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

While the honor has been jointly won on several 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 least minutes played.

If the deadlock persists, the next deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are used would the award be shared.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way battle exists for the 2025-26 Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a single goal.

• Harry Kane (English captain) leads with 19 goals (38 points) from 15 Bundesliga fixtures.
• Erling Haaland also has 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League appearances.
• Kylian Mbappe sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

In fourth is Darko Lemajic of Latvian side RFS, who has netted 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 fixtures this term.

The rest of the current top ten is comprised of players from leagues that function on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Winners

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

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

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the most Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six separate occasions during his long tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a single season with fifty 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 Manchester United before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The inaugural player to win the award while at an English club was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he scored thirty-two goals for Liverpool.

The award has seen a new 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-equaling thirty-six goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally for Bayern Munich the following season.

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

Now, the very three players are vying at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane currently out in front the pack.