Although the spotlight is on the big European soccer leagues, the unexpected leader in the race for the 2025-26 Golden Boot is Klaemint Olsen, a 35-year-old striker who plays for NSI Runavik with 26 goals in 26 games. Olsen leads the table because the Nordic leagues apply a lower coefficient (1.5 points per goal), but as they are more advanced, his figures look spectacular at this stage of the season.
Behind him, the real battle is unleashed. Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane has started his second season in the Bundesliga with 18 goals in 10 games, while Kylian Mbappe, already established as the leader of Real Madrid, has 14 goals in the same number of games. Meanwhile, Manchester City’s Erling Haaland is not far behind with 12 goals in just nine games.
Mbappe, Kane and Haaland: Who is most likely to win the Golden Boot?
The three forwards have already been the winners of the award in recent years: Mbappe in 2025, Kane in 2024 and Haaland in 2023 and everything indicates that the trophy will again be in the hands of one of them. As the season progresses and goals in Europe’s top leagues are valued with the coefficient of two points per goal, Olsen’s advantage will be drastically reduced.
Mbappe has already shown in his first year with Los Merengues that he can maintain a high average of goals with 44 in the 2024-25 season, while Harry Kane reached that same figure in his debut with the Germans. However, Haaland has a historical advantage, his records of 53, 45 and 48 goals in his three seasons with City make him the most consistent and lethal of the trio.
Will Messi and Ronaldo’s records return? The new goal-scoring trident threatens history
Although they have not yet reached the monstrous figures of Lionel Messi’s 73 goals in the 2011-12 season or Cristiano Ronaldo’s 60 in the same campaign, the consistency of Mbappe, Haaland and Kane inevitably brings back memories of the legendary duel that marked an era in European football between 2009 and 2018.
That rivalry took the competition to almost inhuman levels. Today, the race seems more open, less obsessive and more evenly distributed among different styles of footballers. Mbappe with a mix of speed and finishing, Kane as a complete number nine and Haaland as a killer who doesn’t need many chances to score.
The season is still young, but there are already signs of a close race for the Golden Boot with three forwards who have dominated European football in recent years.
Read the full article here
