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The competition for the European Golden Shoe is heating up as the 2025-26 season passes its halfway mark.

With a new winner in every one of the previous three campaigns, the prize remains wide open. Premier League star Erling Haaland was the last Premier League-based forward to secure the award back in the 2022-23 season.

The prodigious Norwegian goal-scorer is back in the running this campaign, but encounters tough rivalry from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Real Madrid phenomenon Kylian Mbappe. With plenty of fixtures remaining, other talents still have an opportunity to enter the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was inaugurated in the 1967-68 by the France-based newspaper L'Equipe to honor the highest scorer 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 weighted scoring system. Under this method, a player's goals are multiplied by a specific multiplier based on the strength ranking of their league.

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

For competitions ranked sixth to 22nd in UEFA's list, such as the Portuguese Primeira Liga, goals are worth one and a half points. Goals in all other 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 season dictates that in the case of a points tie, the trophy goes to the player with the fewest minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the number of assists, followed by the least goals from the penalty spot. Only after these criteria are exhausted would the prize be split.

Who are the Leading Challengers?

As it stands, a three-way tussle is underway 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 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 is 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 matches this season.

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

Reviewing Previous Winners

Throughout its nearly six-decade existence, the Golden Shoe has been claimed by some of football's biggest stars.

Portuguese icon Eusébio claimed 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 secured the record number of Golden Shoes, claiming the honor on six occasions during his 17-year spell at FC Barcelona.

Messi established the benchmark for most goals in a single season with 50 in 2011-12 (100 points). He also became the only player to ever to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2018-19.

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

The first player to win the award while at an club in England was Ian Rush in 1983-84, when he scored 32 goals for Liverpool FC.

The award has seen a new winner in each of the last three seasons.

Erling Haaland won the prize for the first time in 2022-23, scoring a Premier League record-equaling 36 goals (72 points). Harry Kane secured his first Golden Shoe with the identical goal tally 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 competing at the summit of the leaderboard once more this campaign, with Kane presently out in front the way.