Who are the European Golden Shoe winners? Which player has won the most Golden Boot? Want to know more? Sit tight as we bring you every single detail.
The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an annual award presented to the top scorer from the top leagues in Europe.
The player who scores the most goals across all major leagues on the European continent receives recognition for their hard work and consistency throughout the season.
Who’s won the most European Golden Boot awards? Lionel Messi leads with the Golden Boot winners list with a record six times, all while playing for Barcelona.
European Golden Shoe award winners from 1967–68 to 2021/22
2021/2022?
2020–21 Robert Lewandowski – 41 Goals – (Bayern Munich, Bundesliga)
2019–20 Ciro Immobile 36 Goals – (Lazio, Série A)
2018–19 Lionel Messi – 36 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2017–18 Lionel Messi – 34 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2016–17 Lionel Messi – 37 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2015–16 Luis Suárez – 40 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2014–15 Cristiano Ronaldo – 48 Goals – (Real Madrid, La Liga)
2013–14 Cristiano Ronaldo – 31 Goals (Real Madrid, La Liga)
2013–14 Luis Suárez – 31 Goals – (Liverpool, Premier League)
2012–13 Lionel Messi – 46 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2011–12 Lionel Messi – 50 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2010–11 Cristiano Ronaldo – 40 Goals – (Real Madrid, La Liga)
2009–10 Lionel Messi – 34 Goals – (Barcelona, La Liga)
2008–09 Diego Forlán – 32 Goals – (Atlético Madrid, La Liga)
2007–08 Cristiano Ronaldo – 31 Goals – (Manchester United, Premier League)
2006–07 Francesco Totti – 26 Goals – (AS Roma, Série A)
2005–06 Luca Toni – 31 Goals – (Fiorentina, Série A)
2004–05 Thierry Henry – 25 Goals – (Arsenal, Premier League)
2004–05 Diego Forlán – 25 Goals – (Villarreal CF, La Liga)
2003–04 Thierry Henry – 30 Goals – (Arsenal, Premier League)
2002–03 Roy Makaay – 29 Goals – (Deportivo La Coruña, La Liga)
2001–02 Mário Jardel – 42 Goals – (Sporting CP, Primeira Liga)
2000–01 Henrik Larsson – 35 Goals – (Celtic, Scottish Premier League)
1999–2000 Kevin Phillips – 30 Goals – (Sunderland, Premier League)
1998–99 Mário Jardel – 36 Goals – (Porto, Primeira Liga)
1997–98 Nikos Machlas – 34 Goals – (Vitesse, Eredivisie)
1996–97 Ronaldo – 34 Goals – (FC Barcelona, La Liga)
1995–96 Zviad Endeladze – 40 Goals – (Margveti, Umaglesi Liga)
1994–95 Arsen Avetisyan – 39 Goals – (Homenetmen, Armenian Premier League)
1993–94 David Taylor – 43 Goals – (Porthmadog, League of Wales)
1992–93 Ally McCoist – 34 Goals – (Rangers, Scottish Premier Division)
1991–92 Ally McCoist – 34 Goals – (Rangers, Scottish Premier Division)
1990–91 Darko Pančev – 34 Goals – (Red Star Belgrade, Yugoslav First League)
1989–90 Hugo Sánchez – 38 Goals – (Real Madrid, La Liga)
1989–90 Hristo Stoichkov – 38 Goals – (CSKA Sofia, A PFG)
1988–89 Dorin Mateuț – 43 Goals – (Dinamo București, Liga I)
1987–88 Tanju Çolak – 39 Goals – (Galatasaray SK, Süper Lig)
1986–87 Toni Polster – 39 Goals – (Austria Wien, Austrian Bundesliga)
1985–86 Marco van Basten – 37 Goals – (Ajax, Eredivisie)
1984–85 Fernando Gomes – 39 Goals – (Porto, Primeira Liga)
1983–84 Ian Rush – 32 Goals – (Liverpool, First Division)
1982–83 Fernando Gomes – 36 Goals – (Porto, Primeira Liga)
1981–82 Wim Kieft – 32 Goals – (Ajax, Eredivisie)
1980–81 Georgi Slavkov – 31 Goals – (Botev Plovdiv, Parva Liga)
1979–80 Erwin Vandenbergh – 39 Goals – (Lierse, Belgian First Division)
1978–79 Kees Kist – 34 Goals – (AZ, Eredivisie)
1977–78 Hans Krankl – 41 Goals – (Rapid Wien, Austrian Bundesliga)
1976–77 Dudu Georgescu – 47 Goals – (Dinamo București, Liga I)
1975–76 Sotiris Kaiafas – 39 Goals – (Omonia Nicosia, Cypriot First Division)
1974–75 Dudu Georgescu – 33 Goals – (Dinamo București, Liga I)
1973–74 Héctor Yazalde – 46 Goals – (Sporting CP, Primeira Liga)
1972–73 Eusébio – 40 Goals – (Benfica, Primeira Liga)
1971–72 Gerd Müller – 40 Goals – (Bayern Munich, Bundesliga)
1970–71 Josip Skoblar – 44 Goals – (Marseille, Ligue 1)
1969–70 Gerd Müller – 38 Goals – (Bayern Munich, Bundesliga)
1968–69 Petar Zhekov – 36 Goals – (CSKA Sofia, Parva Liga)
1967–68 – Eusébio – 42 Goals – (Benfica, Primeira Liga)
Most Golden (Shoe) Boot Winners
1. Lionel Messi
Argentine forward Lionel Messi is the player with the most European Golden Shoe awards, a record six won at Barcelona. Messi’s chase for the top continental prize began in the 2009–10 season when he scored 34 goals.
Messi also holds the record for goals in a single season with 50 in 2011–12. The South American also won the award consecutively in 2012 and 2013. In the process, he also became the non-European with the most Awards.
Messi’s blissful career with Barcelona was one of the best in the modern era of football. He won numerous trophies, including four Champions League trophies.
Lionel Messi is often considered the best player globally and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He’s also won a record seven Ballon d’Or awards and, in 2020, was named to the Ballon d’Or Dream Team.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo is the second player with the most Golden Shoe awards. The Portuguese footballer has won four awards, one at Manchester United and three with Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo is often considered the best player globally and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He’s also won five Ballon d’Or awards.
He has won five UEFA Champions League trophies, one European Football Championship, one Nations League, and league titles in Spain and England.
Ronaldo won his first award in the 2007–08 season after scoring 31 goals. He also won consecutive awards in 2013–14 and 2014–15, scoring 31 and 48 goals, respectively. Ronaldo scored 48 goals, two goals shy of Lionel Messi’s 50 goals.
3. Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller was the first player to win the European Golden Shoe award consecutively in 1969–70 and 1971–72, scoring 36 and 40 goals, respectively.
Müller was a striker renowned for his clinical finishing, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalscorers. He played for Bundesliga record winners Bayern Munich from 1964 to 1979.
He scored 398 goals in 453 league appearances for Bayern Munich, winning three European Cups, four Bundesliga titles, four German Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, etc.
4. Eusébio
Portuguese forward Eusébio was the first player ever to receive the European Golden Shoe introduced in the 1967–68 season originally called “Soulier d’Or.”
That year, Eusébio scored a record 40 goals in all competitions for Portuguese giants SL Benfica.
Eusébio is considered one of the greatest footballers of all time and S.L. Benfica’s greatest ever player. He won 11 Portuguese league titles, five Portuguese Cups, and one European Cup.
He was also the European Cup top scorer in 1965, 1966, and 1968.
5. Dudu Georgescu
Dudu Georgescu Romanian footballer, is also considered one of the best of his generation. He played for Romanian league outfit Dinamo București, scoring 207 goals in 260 league appearances.
Dudu Georgescu has won two European Golden Shoe awards twice in 1974–75 and 1976–77. He is also Dinamo București’s all-time top scorer in the Divizia A with 207 goals.
6. Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry is one of the greatest footballers in modern french football. He won two European Golden Shoe awards consecutively in 2004 and 2005 at Arsenal.
The French footballer is also a record holder of the Premier League Golden Boot Award with four trophies. He was part of the 2005 Arsenal squad dubbed ‘The Invincibles’ that finished the season without recording a single defeat.
He’s played for some of the biggest football clubs, including Arsenal, AS Monaco, and FC Barcelona. He won two Premier League titles, two La Liga titles, one UEFA Champions League trophy, and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Thierry Henry is also considered one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of the greatest players in the history of the Premier League.
7. Diego Forlán
Diego Forlán is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation. The Uruguayan won two awards in 2004–05 and 2008–09.
Forlán played for some of the biggest football clubs in the world, including Manchester United, Atlético Madrid, Peñarol, Inter de Porto Alegre, etc.
He won the Premier League at Man United, Europa League, and Super Cup at Atlético Madrid and Copa América in 2011.
8. Luis Suárez
Uruguay forward Luis Suárez has won two European Golden Shoes, an Eredivisie Golden Boot, a Premier League Golden Boot, and the Pichichi Trophy.
He is one of the best footballers in the world and has won over nineteen trophies.
9. Fernando Gomes
Fernando Gomes has won two European Golden Shoe awards in 1983 and 1985. He achieved great success with giants SL Benfica and had stints at Sporting CP.
Fernando Gomes won five Portuguese league titles with Porto. He also won the European Cup, European Super Cup, and Intercontinental Cup at least once.
10. Ally McCoist
Scottish footballer Ally McCoist was presented with two awards in 1992 and 1993. He played as a forward for Rangers, and he scored 34 goals each across the two seasons.
11. Mário Jardel
Brazilian Mário Jardel has won two awards.
The European Golden Shoe sometimes referred to as the European Golden Boot, is an award presented to the top scorer across the major leagues in Europe.
Some of the most Golden Boot winners on the list include; Lionel Messi (6), Cristiano Ronaldo, (4), Gerd Müller (2), Thierry Henry (2), Luis Suárez (2), Eusébio (2), Diego Forlán (2), etc.
