Top 5 Players with Numerous European Golden Boot Awards

The European Golden Boot, given to the top scorer in European top-flight football, was first awarded in 1968 by L’Equipe. Since 1997, European Sports Media has managed it, adjusting scores based on league difficulty. Top leagues have a coefficient of 2, mid-level leagues 1.5, and others 1.

Many players have won the award, including Robert Lewandowski, who scored 41 goals last season to earn his first Golden Boot. Some have won it multiple times.

Here are the top five Players with Numerous European Golden Boot Awards.

5. Gerd Muller

Gerd Muller, famously known as ‘Der Bomber’ for his exceptional goal-scoring prowess, holds the record for the most goals scored in Bundesliga history with 365. No other player has surpassed his mark of 277 goals.

Muller first claimed the Golden Shoe award after scoring 38 goals in 33 matches. He earned a second Golden Shoe two years later by scoring 40 goals. This record remained unbeaten for nearly 50 years until Robert Lewandowski set a new record with 41 goals in the 2020-21 season.

Since Muller’s remarkable 40-goal season, only two players have achieved 30 goals in a Bundesliga campaign. Lewandowski has accomplished this three times (30 goals in both 2015-16 and 2016-17, and 34 goals in 2019-20) before surpassing Muller’s record in 2020-21. The other player to reach this milestone is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, with 31 goals in the 2016-17 season.

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4. Thierry Henry

Thierry Henry is widely regarded as one of the Premier League’s greatest strikers. With 175 goals, he ranks as the sixth-highest scorer in the league’s history.

Henry joined Arsenal in the summer of 1999 and quickly made an impact, scoring at least 17 goals in each of his first seven seasons with the club. During Arsenal’s unbeaten 2003-04 season, known as the ‘Invincibles,’ he scored 30 goals and earned his first Golden Boot award. The following season, he netted 24 goals and shared his second Golden Boot with Diego Forlan of Villarreal.

Henry’s influence extended beyond scoring. The season before his first Golden Boot, he made 24 goals and provided 20 assists, marking the highest goal contributions by any player in a single Premier League season.

After leaving Arsenal, Henry had stints with Barcelona and in Major League Soccer before retiring in 2014.

3. Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez, recognized as one of the top strikers of his era, has won the Golden Boot twice.

In the 2013-14 season, Suarez, then playing for Liverpool, scored 31 goals, sharing the Golden Boot with Cristiano Ronaldo, who also netted 31 goals for Real Madrid in La Liga. Despite Suarez’s impressive performance, Liverpool’s title bid ended in disappointment.

After joining Barcelona, Suarez outperformed both Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the 2015-16 season, scoring 40 goals and securing his second Golden Boot. He became only the third player, alongside Ronaldo and Messi, to score 40 goals in a single La Liga season.

Last summer, Suarez left Barcelona for Atletico Madrid, where he helped the team win the La Liga title in the 2020-21 season.

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2. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo, widely considered one of the greatest footballers of all time, has been a prolific scorer for both his clubs and national team. He is one of only two players to have won more than two Golden Boot awards.

Ronaldo clinched his first Golden Boot in the 2007-08 season with 31 goals, leading Manchester United to a Premier League title. Three years later, he became the first player to score over 40 goals in a La Liga season, earning him his second Golden Boot.

After a three-year wait, Ronaldo won his third Golden Boot in the 2013-14 season, scoring 31 goals, sharing the award with Liverpool’s Luis Suarez. The following year, Ronaldo netted 48 goals, making him the first player to win the Golden Boot four times.

Currently playing for Juventus, Ronaldo continues to perform well but has not come close to winning another Golden Boot recently.

1. Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi has had a remarkable career, amassing numerous goals and trophies with both his club and national team.

Now 34 years old and currently a free agent after leaving Barcelona this summer, Messi holds the record for winning the Golden Boot award six times. He is also the only player to have won it in three consecutive years.

Messi clinched his first Golden Boot in the 2009-10 season with 34 goals. He then had a spectacular 50-goal season in 2011-12 to win his second award. Shortly after, he scored 46 goals in the 2012-13 season to earn his third Golden Boot.

In the 2016-17 season, Messi netted 37 goals, tying with Cristiano Ronaldo for the most Golden Boots, and then surpassed him the following year with 34 goals. Messi achieved an unprecedented third consecutive Golden Boot in the 2018-19 season with 36 goals.

That same year, Messi also made history by becoming the first player to win six Ballon d’Or awards.

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