Who is the striker ahead of Mbappé, Haaland in race for European Golden Shoe award?

Mbappé was belatedly presented the 2024-25 European Golden Shoe after scoring 31 league goals. Early 2025-26 standings see Latvia’s RFS striker Lemajic leading with 28 goals (28 points) while Haaland and Mbappé have 13 goals (26 points). Betting angle: favour top-five league stars — their goals score double, so backing Haaland or Mbappé to overtake the Latvian leader offers stronger long-term value.

Mbappé finally presented with 2024-25 European Golden Shoe

Kylian Mbappé has formally taken possession of the 2024-25 European Golden Shoe after finishing last season as Europe’s top league scorer with 31 goals. The presentation came late but underlined a campaign that saw the France forward dominate his domestic scoring charts and add his name to the award’s illustrious roll of honour.

How the European Golden Shoe points system works

Since 1997 the Golden Shoe is decided on a weighted points system, not raw goals. Goals in UEFA’s top-five leagues are multiplied by 2, goals in leagues ranked 6–22 are multiplied by 1.5, and goals in leagues ranked 23 and below carry a multiplier of 1. That means a striker in a top-five league needs roughly half the raw goals to match a scorer in a lower-ranked competition.

10. Harry Kane, Bayern Munich (12 goals, 24 points)

Carrying on his incredible form from last season, Kane has 12 league goals in just nine Bundesliga games this season, meaning that he is likely to ascend the 2025-26 European Golden Shoe leaderboard in the weeks and months to come. Should the England captain successfully maintain his formidable domestic goal-scoring rate, there is every chance he can reclaim the award from Mbappé come the final count.

9. Nahir Besara, Hammarby IF (17 goals, 25.5 points)

Hammarby are second in the Swedish Allsvenskan with one matchday still to play and Besara is one of three players who are level at the top of the league's goal-scoring charts. The 34-year-old's goals, however, have not been enough to prevent the Stockholm club, which is co-owned by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, from finishing a distance behind upstart minnows Mjällby AIF, who claimed the 2025 title in sensational fashion.

8. Ibrahim Diabate, GAIS (17 goals, 25.5 points)

The second of the three players atop the Allsvenskan goal-scoring charts, Diabate has 17 goals for GAIS, who will finish third narrowly behind Hammarby and therefore qualify for the UEFA Conference League qualifying round as a result.

7. August Priske, Djurgården (17 goals, 25.5 points)

The third and final striker from the 2025 Allsvenskan Golden Boot race, Denmark under-20 international Priske hit 17 goals for Djurgården.

6. Kasper Høgh, Bodo/Glimt (17 goals, 25.5 points)

With the Norwegian Eliteserien running between May and November like many Scandinavian leagues, Høgh is joint-level top scorer in the 2025 with a handful of games remaining. His Bodo/Glimt side are currently one point behind leaders Viking FK at the top of the table with time running out, despite having led the way for the majority of the campaign.

5. Daniel Karlsbakk, Sarpsborg FK (17 goals, 25.5 points)

Karlsbakk is the man level-pegging with Høgh in the race for Eliteserien Golden Boot, though Sarpsborg's campaign has been far less dramatic with the club -- which was only formed 17 years ago -- bobbing around in ninth place with just four fixtures remaining.

4. Klaemint Olsen, NSI Runavik (26 goals, 26 points)

There's every chance you're not au fait with the manner in which the 2025 Faroe Islands Premier League season played out, but we're here to inform you that Runavik finished third, some 13 points behind eventual title winners KI Klaksvik. They can at least take some solace in the fact that their star striker Olsen managed to comfortably outscore KI's Pall Klettskard to power his way to the top of the scoring charts.

3. Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid (13 goals, 26 points)

With just 11 games played this season, Mbappé looks to be taking his defense of the European Golden Shoe seriously. The 26-year-old France international is already six goals clear of his closest rival at the peak of the LaLiga scoring chart for 2025-26 after finding the net at least once in each of his last eight consecutive league outings for Los Blancos.

Mbappé tells Yamal critics: 'Leave him alone'

2. Erling Haaland, Manchester City (13 goals, 26 points)

Another huge talent who is scoring for fun this season, Haaland has made it his business to mercilessly bully Premier League defenders over the course of the 2025-26 season so far, scoring 11 goals in 13 league games for City. As if to further cement his credentials, the Norway international is also on the brink of becoming the fastest player ever to reach 100 Premier League goals, with another brace enough to smash Alan Shearer's 30-year-old record.

1. Darko Lemajic, Rigas Futbola Skola (28 goals, 28 points)

Standing at 6-foot-6, Lemajic is an imposing striker who has definitely made his presence felt in the Latvian top flight. The Serbian is in his second stint with Rigas Futbola Skola having spent a couple of years in Belgium with KAA Gent, but spent the 2025 season scoring for fun as his side finished runners-up, within five points of eventual title-winners Riga FC. So potent was Lemajic that he actually scored twice as many goals as the next best marksman in the league, with Ingars Pulis of FK Tukums 2000 scoring 16 goals to finish second in the running.

Early 2025-26 contenders and notable scorers

Lemajic remains the headline name on raw goals and leads the Golden Shoe standings, with one league game left to add to his tally. Harry Kane has started the season strongly with 12 goals in nine matches and could climb the leaderboard if he sustains that rate. Mbappé is top of the LaLiga scoring chart and has found the net in eight consecutive league outings. Haaland continues to score freely — 11 league goals in 13 matches — and remains a major threat for season-long awards.

Scandinavia and smaller leagues producing high scorers

Several summer-scheduled competitions have prolific finishers early in the season, which explains the presence of many Scandinavian names high on the raw-goals list. In Sweden’s Allsvenskan, three players (including Besara and Diabate) sit on 17 goals as clubs wrap up their campaigns. Norway’s Eliteserien sees Høgh and Karlsbakk among the top scorers with only a handful of fixtures remaining. In the Faroe Islands, Olsen led his league despite a short season.

Betting implications: how punters should adjust

Understand the multiplier system before backing a Golden Shoe winner. Goals in top-five leagues offer double points, making stars like Haaland, Mbappé and Kane better long-term bets despite lower raw totals early in summer-league windows. Short-term value might exist on players who have finished summer seasons (Lemajic) to maintain their lead, but season-long markets favour forwards who score in Europe’s major leagues because their every goal carries more weight. Monitor fixture congestion, fitness and form swings — especially as top-five league campaigns accelerate.

Key market strategies

Back top-five league strikers for season-long Golden Shoe markets or outrights if you want the highest-probability play. Consider small, tactical bets on summer-league leaders for near-term props (next-game scorer, match winner) but remember their raw-goal advantage does not translate one-for-one into Golden Shoe points. Keep an eye on players returning from international breaks; momentum and minutes will drive who ultimately overtakes the early leaders.

Who has been the most lethal forward in Europe this season? Kylian Mbappé? Erling Haaland? No, it's little-known striker in the Latvian league.

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