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The battle for the prestigious Golden Shoe is intensifying as the current season approaches its midway point.

With a different winner in each of the last three campaigns, the honor remains up for grabs. Manchester City star Erling Haaland was the most recent Premier League-based forward to secure the trophy back in 2022-23.

The prodigious Norwegian striker is once again in the hunt this term, but encounters tough rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With many matches remaining, other players still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The Golden Boot award was inaugurated in the 1967-68 season by the French publication L'Equipe to recognize the leading scorer in domestic league matches from a European top division league.

Since the 1997-98, the prize has been overseen by European Sports Media, which implemented a weighted points system. Under this format, a player's goals are weighted with a specific coefficient based on the UEFA coefficient of their domestic competition.

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

For leagues ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA 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 multiple instances in the past, a rule change 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 deadlock persists, the next tiebreaker is the total of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the award be shared.

Who are the Leading Contenders?

As it stands, a three-horse tussle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners split by just a solitary goal.

• Harry Kane (England 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 matches.

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

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

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

A Look at Past Recipients

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

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 season.

Argentine legend Lionel Messi has secured the most Golden Shoes, collecting the award on six separate occasions during his 17-year tenure at FC Barcelona.

Messi set the record for highest tally in a campaign with fifty in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the first and only player to ever to win it in three successive seasons from 2016 to 2019.

Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo first won 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 Liverpool's Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he netted 32 goals for Liverpool.

The award has seen a different winner in every one of the past three seasons.

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

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

Now, the same three players are battling at the top of the standings once more this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the pack.