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The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is reaching a fever pitch as the current season approaches its halfway mark.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the running this term, but faces tough rivalry from German Bundesliga forward Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other players still have an opportunity to throw their hat into the fray.

What is the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was introduced in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to celebrate the leading scorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the award has been administered by European Sports Media, which introduced a weighted scoring system. Under this format, a player's tallies are multiplied by a designated multiplier based on the strength ranking of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, 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 instances in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the case of a tie, the award goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie persists, the next deciding factor is the total of league assists, followed by the fewest penalties scored. Only after these tiebreakers are used would the award be split.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

Currently, a three-way battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners separated by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (English 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 one back on 18 goals (36 points) in 18 La Liga games.

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

Dutch side Feyenoord forward Ayase Ueda is joint-fifth with 18 goals (27 points) from 17 Eredivisie matches this season.

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

A Look at Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese legend Eusebio 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 maestro Lionel Messi has secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the award on six separate occasions during his long spell at Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for most goals in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to date to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Man Utd before going on to win it on three further occasions with Real Madrid.

The inaugural 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 FC.

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

Erling Haaland won 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 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 same trio are battling at the summit of the leaderboard again this campaign, with Kane currently leading the way.