European Golden Shoe 2023-24: Kane, Haaland, Mbappe in race to rub shoulders with Messi, Ronaldo

Club football in Europe in the 2023-24 season has come to its business end, with some teams already scripting history with league titles while others are looking to shut shop with silverware before the European Championship, set to begin next month.

Players too have been involved in the race for personal accolades, with strikers and goalkeepers eyeing the Golden Boot and the Golden Glove in their respective leagues. But another feather in the cap awaits the highest striker in European club football – the Golden Shoe.

Having started from the 1967-68 season, the award is decided by the European Sports Media, which is an association of football writers in the continent.

How is the European Golden Boot calculated?

The European Golden Boot is calculated as a product of the number of goals scored in the top division and the UEFA score for each country. The UEFA score for each country is determined by their rankings by the European football body.

Score = G (Goals scored) * UF (UEFA Factor)

The top five countries have a factor of two, while those between six and 22 have a factor of 1.5. The ones below have a factor of 1. If two players have the same score, the player with the fewer minutes played is ranked higher.

Who won the first European Golden Boot?

Benfica legend Eusebio was the first recipient of the award, scoring 42 goals with the Portuguese side in the 1967-68 season.

Who has won the European Golden Boot the most number of times?

Lionel Messi has won it the most number of times – six – with all coming during his stint at Barcelona. Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players to have won the Boot three or more times.

• Lionel Messi (6): 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19
• Cristiano Ronaldo (4): 2007–08, 2010–11, 2013–14 (shared), 2014–15

Who won the European Golden Boot last season?

Norwegian striker Erling Haaland won the European Golden Boot last season, with 36 goals in his maiden Premier League campaign with Manchester City.

Who has won the European Golden Boot this season?

Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Lautaro Martínez are some of the prominent names in the race for the Golden Boot.

But it is the England captain Harry Kane who leads the standings this season with 36 goals from 34 games in his maiden stint in the Bundesliga, having moved to Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur last summer.

With Mbappe excluded from the final matchday squad of Paris Saint-Germain, only Haaland remains in the race to dethrone Kane but will have to score a ludicrous nine goals against West Ham to catch the Englishman – something that looks extremely unlikely.

European Golden Boot standings in the 2023-24 season