Some familiar names are jostling for position at the top of the standings for the 2025/26 Champions League Golden Boot award.
This is the second season of the competition with the new revamped league phase format. Dortmund’s Serhou Guirassy and Barca’s Raphinha were the top scorers last season with 13 goals each.
The new format means that all games matter in the league phase, which reduces the chances of teams resting their star players & fielding second string sides against weaker opposition. Doing so can sometimes be detrimental to their chances of going forward in the competition, as leaders Liverpool discovered last season when a final day loss to PSV gave them a Round of 16 clash against PSG and resulted in an early exit for the Reds.
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe previously won the prize while playing for Paris Saint-Germain, and is leading the race this time around.
The French international striker has registered five goals in two games, putting him one ahead of Bayern Munich and England star Harry Kane. According to Spreadex Sports, Mbappe is fancied to hit the 12-mark in the Champions League. That would have been enough to clinch the prize in five of the last 10 seasons.
Read on as we look at the recent winners of the Champions League Golden Boot, before assessing who is leading the way this time around.
Recent winners
2015/16- Cristiano Ronaldo- Real Madrid (16 goals)
2016/17- Cristiano Ronaldo- Real Madrid (12 goals)
2017/18- Cristiano Ronaldo- Real Madrid (15 goals)
2018/19- Lionel Messi- Barcelona (12 goals)
2019/20- Robert Lewandowski- Bayern (15 goals)
2020/21- Erling Haaland- Dortmund (10 goals)
2021/22- Karim Benzema- Real Madrid (15 goals)
2022/23- Erling Haaland- Man City (12 goals)
2023/24- Harry Kane & Kylian Mbappe- Bayern/PSG (8 goals)
2024/25- Serhou Guirassy and Raphinha- Dortmund/Barca (13 goals)
Top scorers this season (as of MD2)
Kylian Mbappe- Real Madrid (5 goals)
Harry Kane- Bayern Munich (4 goals)
Anthony Gordon- Newcastle (3 goals)
Erling Haaland- Man City (3 goals)
A bunch of other players, including the likes of Marcus Thuram, Rasmus Hojlund, Goncalo Ramos and Lautaro Martinez, have 2 goals so far.
Big three fancied to dominate the Golden Boot race
Mbappe and Kane shared the prize in 2023/24 and they should mount strong bids to finish on top of the table in this season’s competition.
Betting experts Spreadex rate Mbappe as the favourite to win the Golden Boot and plenty of punters will be willing to back him to get the job done. Madrid are fancied to go a long way in the Champions League, which would increase the French striker’s chances of winning the award.
He will face stiff competition from Kane, who has made a stellar start to the season with Bayern. The England captain is just one goal behind Mbappe after two games.
The league phase fixture list could be problematic for Kane given that Bayern are scheduled to visit PSG and Arsenal during November.
On that basis, Manchester City star Erling Haaland may be the biggest threat to Mbappe’s hopes of winning the award for the second time.
Haaland has scored a staggering 52 goals in 50 appearances in the Champions League and will be eager to add to his tally as the competition progresses.
The Norwegian international has registered three goals in two games this term and could be a good bet at odds of 24/5 to win the Golden Boot.
Man City are scheduled to visit Madrid on Matchday 6 in what promises to be a thrilling showdown between two of the best strikers in the world.
However, the rest of their league phase fixtures are extremely favourable (they’ve already played Napoli) and Haaland could easily be leading the race heading into the knockout stage.
Mbappe & Kane are guaranteed to put up a good fight, but Haaland is fancied to emerge victorious this season.