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The battle for the Golden Boot trophy is reaching a fever pitch as the current season passes its mid-season juncture.

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

The prolific Norwegian striker is once again in the running this term, but faces stiff competition from Bayern Munich marksman Harry Kane and Spanish La Liga superstar Kylian Mbappe. With many games remaining, other talents still have time to throw their hat into the contest.

Understanding the Golden Shoe?

The European Golden Shoe was first launched in the 1967-68 by the French newspaper L'Equipe to honor the top goalscorer in league matches from a European top division league.

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

Goals scored in Europe's top five leagues—the Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and French 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 honor has been shared on several occasions in the past, a regulation update from the 2019-20 season dictates that in the event of a tie, the award goes to the player with the least minutes played.

If the tie persists, the subsequent deciding factor is the total of assists, followed by the least penalties scored. Only if these tiebreakers are exhausted would the prize be shared.

Who are the Primary Contenders?

At present, a three-way battle exists for the current season's Golden Shoe, with the three previous winners separated 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 games.

In fourth is Darko Lemajic of Latvia's club 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 rest of the top 10 is made up of players from leagues that operate on a January-to-December schedule.

A Look at Previous Recipients

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

Portuguese icon Eusébio won the first-ever trophy in 1968, scoring 42 goals for Benfica. He later won the award for a second time in the 1972-73 season.

Argentine maestro Lionel Messi has won the record number of Golden Shoes, collecting the honor on six separate occasions during his long tenure at Barcelona.

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

Portuguese megastar Cristiano Ronaldo first won award in the 2007-08 with Manchester United before going on to win it three more times with Real Madrid.

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

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

Kylian Mbappe is the reigning 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 way.