European Football: Who are the Golden shoe winners in last 20 years?

European Football: Who are the Golden shoe winners in last 20 years?

Along with playing for team titles, Championships and trophies, a footballer, may it be a defender or a striker or a midfielder, will always look to win the individual trophies. Amongst the individual trophies, Ballon D’Or is the most coveted one. The Ballon D’Or is always linked with the fight between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. However, in this piece, we shall look at one more individual trophy, Golden Shoe. 

What is a Golden Shoe?

Golden Shoe Winners

Golden Shoe is an individual award handed to the highest goalscorer across Europe. It is also known as the European Golden Boot and the award is a Golden Shoe. The trophy is a sculpture and has been awarded since the 1967/68 season. Initially, the Golden Shoe was known as Soulier d’Or.

The trophy is awarded to the player who has scored the most number of goals in their domestic season and not across all the competitions. In the below table, we shall look at the players who have won the Golden Shoe in the last 20 seasons. 

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Who are the Golden Shoe Winners in the last 20 years?

Golden Shoe Winners

In the last 20 campaigns of European football, Lionel Messi has won the Golden Shoe most times. The Argentine legend has won it six times. He scored 50 goals in the 2011/12 La Liga season and is the highest in the last 20 years. 

Lionel Messi’s competition, Cristiano Ronaldo, has won it only three times. He achieved the feat when he played for Manchester United (1) and Real Madrid (2). In the history of this, only twice the Golden Shoe was shared between two players. It happened in 2004/05 as well it happened in 2013/14 when Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez scored 31 goals and the title was shared between them. 

Despite Robert Lewandowski, the Bayern Munich player, being in the form of his life, he is yet to win the Golden Shoe. He came close to winning it last season but Ciro Immobile took it away from the Polish striker. There are no representatives from German Bundesliga or French Ligue 1 to achieve the feat in the last 20 years. 

SeasonPlayerClubLeagueGoals
2001–02Mário JardelSporting CPPrimeira Liga42
2002–03Roy MakaayDeportivo La CoruñaLa Liga29
2003–04Thierry HenryArsenalPremier League30
2004–05Diego Forlan & Thierry HenryVillarreal & ArsenalPremier League25
2005–06Luca ToniFiorentinaSerie A31
2006–07Francesco TottiRomaSerie A26
2007–08Cristiano RonaldoManchester UnitedPremier League31
2008–09Diego ForlánAtlético MadridLa Liga32
2009–10Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga34
2010–11Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridLa Liga40
2011–12Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga50
2012–13Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga46
2013–14Cristiano Ronaldo & Luis SuárezReal Madrid & LiverpoolLa Liga and Premier League31
2014–15Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridLa Liga48
2015–16Luis SuárezBarcelonaLa Liga40
2016–17Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga37
2017–18Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga34
2018–19Lionel MessiBarcelonaLa Liga36
2019–20Ciro ImmobileLazioSerie A36
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