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The battle for the European Golden Shoe is intensifying as the 2025-26 season passes its halfway mark.

With a different winner in every one of the last three campaigns, the prize remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based striker to claim the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prolific Norwegian striker is back in the mix this term, but faces stiff rivalry from German Bundesliga marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of matches remaining, other players still have an opportunity to enter the fray.

What is the European Golden Shoe Award?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French newspaper L'Equipe to recognize the leading goalscorer in league matches from a European top-flight league.

Since the 1997-98, the award has been overseen by European Sports Media, which introduced a points-based scoring system. Under this format, a player's goals are weighted with a designated multiplier based on the UEFA coefficient of their league.

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

For leagues ranked from sixth to twenty-second in UEFA's list, 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 instances in the past, a rule change from the 2019-20 season states that in the case of a tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

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

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way tussle is underway for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the trio of previous winners split by just a single 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 matches.

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

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

The remainder of the top 10 is comprised 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 biggest legends.

Portuguese legend Eusebio won the first-ever 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, collecting the award on six separate times during his long spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the benchmark for most goals in a campaign 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 superstar Cristiano Ronaldo claimed his first award in the 2007-08 season with Man Utd before proceeding to win it on three further occasions 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 award has seen a different winner in each of the past three seasons.

Erling Haaland scooped the award for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his maiden Golden Shoe with the identical total for Bayern Munich the following year.

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

Now, the same trio are battling at the top of the standings once more this season, with Kane currently out in front the way.