Kylian Mbappe Wins European Golden Shoe with 31 Goals for Real Madrid

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Kylian Mbappe
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French star Kylian Mbappe is still just 26 years old, but given the young age at which he well and truly burst onto the scene, it feels like he has been around forever. He won the French title with Monaco, the World Cup with France, the Golden Boy prize, the World Cup Young Player award and the Kepa Trophy all whilst still a teenager.

Since then he has added a huge number of individual honours, including the World Cup Golden Boot in 2022 and the Silver Ball in the same competition, and he was the top scorer in the 2023/24 Champions League. He added six further Ligue 1 titles with PSG, as well as four wins in the Coupe de France, and made it to the Champions League final with the Parisians in 2019/20.

After prolonged negotiations, he moved to Real Madrid in the summer of 2024 and it seemed certain he would add lots more silverware to his collection. Things didn’t quite work out that way, though Mbappe and his new club did win the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. However, despite seeming to have a somewhat average season for much of the campaign, and being a little slow to settle into La Liga life, the French superstar still managed to claim one of the few individual honours he was yet to win.

Mbappe Edges Golden Shoe

Mbappe has set such a high bar for himself that many expected he would waltz into Spanish football and make it look easy. Adding arguably the best player in the world to a team including players like Jude Bellingham, Vini Jr, Thibaut Courtois and Rodrygo and managed by Carlo Ancelotti could only equate to a hatful of goals for the former Monaco and PSG man. Real had won La Liga and the Champions League in 2023/24 and so many assumed they would be even more dominant this time around with Mbappe further enriching their attack.

Football is rarely straightforward though, and Madrid got off to a relatively poor start in the 2024/5 La Liga. They drew two of their first three matches, their newest galactico failing to find the net, and after 17 games were down in third place. Mbappe got off the mark in the league at the fourth attempt with a brace, scoring in his next three games after that as well.

However, by the halfway mark of the league campaign, he had just 10 goals to his name. Decent by most standards, but not what was expected when Los Blancos signed him. He had missed a couple of games through injury but it was clear that his new manager and teammates were struggling to get the best out of him and Ancelotti was unsure about how to utilise all the brilliant attacking players at his disposal.

Some may have doubted Mbappe but the player himself remains calm and, of course, so did Ancelotti. In the second half of the season, the French striker was magnificent, bagging goals aplenty, even though his team continued to struggle at times. In that second group of 19 games Mbappe played 17 times, registering 21 goals. He bagged two hat-tricks and five braces, scoring nine goals in his last five matches.

That fine run was in vain, as Real ended up second, four points behind fierce rivals Barcelona. However, it has certainly whetted the appetite of Real fans, who will be looking forward to next season with greater optimism. Mbappe set a number of records in his first term at the club and the belief is that he will only get better, especially under the fresh leadership of Xabi Alonso.

The striker’s strong end to the season also saw him claim the European Golden Shoe. This prize is given to the best striker in Europe based on the number of league goals they have scored and the level at which they have got them. Created in 1968 by French sports magazine L’Equipe, Lionel Messi has won the prize more than anyone else. Messi won the European Golden Boot, as it is also known, six times, all with Barcelona. That is two more victories than Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays second fiddle to Messi here.

The Golden Boot has weighted the top-ranked leagues since 1997, having previously been a straight shootout based on which player scored the most goals in any European league. Prior to 1997, players from smaller, less prestigious leagues had a decent chance of winning, with, for example, Sotiris Kaiafas’s 39 goals in the Cypriot First Division enough for him to land the award in 1975/76.

Since the weighting system was introduced it has generally gone to a player from one of the major five leagues (as decided by UEFA co-efficient). Only three times since 1996/97 has a player from outside the top five competitions triumphed, with Brazilian Mario Jardel winning twice in Portuguese football and Celtic’s Henrik Larsson taking glory in 2000/01.

Goals from the likes of Mbappe in Spain, Harry Kane in Germany or Mo Salah in England, are awarded two points. Leagues ranked from sixth to 21 see goals awarded 1.5 points, with those from 22 down getting a single point.

The 2024/25 Standings

The top five for the most recent season can be seen below:

Player Points Goals Club Factor
Kylian Mbappe 62 31 Real Madrid 2
Viktor Gyokeres 58.5 39 Sporting Lisbon 1.5
Mo Salah 58 29 Liverpool 2
Robert Lewandowski 54 27 Barcelona 2
Harry Kane 52 26 Bayern Munich 2

Mbappe had trailed for much of the season but his brilliant burst of goals over the last five matches saw him soar up the standings and take glory. Gyokeres was brilliant in Portugal, and will be targeted by any number of clubs in the summer, whilst Salah helped Liverpool to the title, with Lewandowski and Kane also winning the titles in Spain and Germany respectively.

Mbappe will of course be hugely disappointed that he was unable to fire Real to Liga glory, but he must be very happy with his 31-goal haul. That saw him win the La Liga Golden Boot (Pichichi Trophy), and the European Golden Shoe. He also became the first player in Real Madrid history to score 40 or more goals (all competitions) in their first season with the club, whilst he also broke club legend Alfredo Di Stefano’s long-standing record for most Liga goals in a debut campaign with the club. Not a bad start all in all. What will 2025/26 bring?