As the curtain falls on the 2024–25 season across Europe’s top five domestic leagues, the race for individual accolades has also come to an end. And topping them all is French superstar Kylian Mbappe, who has claimed the prestigious European Golden Shoe — awarded annually to the top goal scorer across Europe’s leagues.
In his debut season with Real Madrid, Mbappe delivered a stunning performance in La Liga, netting 31 goals. According to UEFA’s coefficient ranking, each goal in a top-five league earns 2 points, giving Mbappé a total of 62 points.
In the final match of the season, Mbappé scored twice, putting himself out of reach of his closest competitors. While Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyökeres kept the race alive, neither could surpass the Frenchman in the end.
Gyökeres finished second in the European Golden Shoe standings. The Swedish striker scored 39 goals in the Portuguese league. However, with the Portuguese league ranked seventh in UEFA’s coefficients, each goal is worth only 1.5 points, giving him a total of 58.5 points—3.5 behind Mbappe.
Salah came third with 29 goals for Liverpool in the Premier League, earning 58 points. Despite scoring in his final match against Crystal Palace, it wasn’t enough to overtake Mbappé. Even a hat-trick wouldn’t have secured him the award due to the minutes played rule—Salah played 3,377 minutes this season, compared to Mbappé’s 2,912, giving the Frenchman the edge in case of a tie.
Mbappé is the first Real Madrid player in over three decades to win the European Golden Shoe. Before him, only Hugo Sanchez and Cristiano Ronaldo had achieved this feat while playing for the Spanish giants.
This dazzling goal-scoring season is not just a milestone for Real Madrid but also marks the beginning of a new chapter in European football history, with Kylian Mbappe firmly at its center.
UA / TDS
