The fight for the 2025‑26 European Golden Shoe is intensifying as the season approaches its midpoint, with three former winners separated by a single goal.
Erling Haaland, the last Premier League‑based winner in 2022‑23, is once again in contention. But the Manchester City striker faces fierce competition from Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, while plenty of matches remain for others to join the chase.
The Golden Shoe — introduced in 1967‑68 by French outlet L’Équipe — honours the top scorer in Europe’s top‑flight leagues. Since 1997‑98, European Sports Media has awarded it using a weighted points system based on UEFA’s league coefficients.
- Goals in the top five leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1) count for two points.
- Goals in leagues ranked 6th–22nd are worth 1.5 points.
- Goals in lower‑ranked leagues count for one point.
A rule change in 2019‑20 means ties are broken first by fewest minutes played, then assists, then penalties scored.
At the moment, Kane leads the standings with 19 goals (38 points) in 15 Bundesliga matches. Haaland matches him with 19 goals (38 points) from 17 Premier League games. Mbappé sits just behind on 18 goals (36 points) in La Liga.
RFS striker Darko Lemajić follows with 28 goals (28 points) from the Latvian league season, while Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda is joint‑fifth with 18 goals (27 points) in the Eredivisie.
Kane is out of this world, so my vote goes to him.
These guys are insane.