The Race For The Golden Boot In Europe’s Top Five Leagues

The race is on for the 2022 European golden boot amongst players in various leagues in Europe. 

The highest goal scorers in football tournaments are given special awards in the form of different pieces and materials.

Mostly, top scorer awards are Golden Boots, and in some cases, they are awarded with pieces different from the Golden Boot, like the top scorer canon (Torjägerkanone in German) in the German Bundesliga and the Pichichi award of Spanish La Liga.

With over half of the season gone and the race for league titles hot, the race for the top scorer award in various football leagues are also on.

We bring you the contenders for the golden boot in each of the top five major leagues in Europe.

English Premier League

In the Premier League, the top scorers are awarded the Golden Boot. The Premier League Golden Boot since it’s inception in 1992/93 has had Thiery Henry winning it the most (four times).

Tottenham forward Harry Kane is the last winner of the award with 23 goals last season.

However, this season, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah leads the chase with 16 goals. He is closely followed by teammate Diogo Jota who has 12 league goals to his name.

The Liverpool duo are followed by Son Heung-Min of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy, each having nine goals. They are followed by many players with less than nine goals.

With 14 matches to go in the EPL, Mo Salah appears to have the highest potential to win the golden boot, but it’s football, a game of the unpredictable.

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German Bundesliga

In the German Bundesliga, the top scorer is awarded the top scorer Canon. It is shaped in the form of a miniature artillery piece.

Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski currently leads the race with 26 goals. The Polish striker won the award last season with 41 goals, his sixth win and a record 4th consecutive win. Gerd Muller holds the record for the most top scorer awards won with seven.

Patrick Schick of Bayer Leverkusen follows the Bavarian, with 18 goals. Borrusia Dortmund ace, Erling Haaland follows closely with 16 goals.

Haaland is followed by Modeste of Koln who has scored 14 goals and he is followed by Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku who has 11 goals.

Lewandowski appears to have the highest potential to win the award again. Haaland can win it too, considering the fact that he’s only behind Schick because he’s missed some games this season.

Spanish La Liga

In the Spanish top flight, Sports Magazine Marca, awards the top scorer with the Pichichi.

Lionel Messi is the highest winner of that award, winning it in eight different seasons. He is the latest winner of that award, winning it with 30 goals.

Karim Benzema of Real Madrid is currently the top scorer of the competition with 16 goals scored so far. His teammate, Vinicius Jr follows, alongside de Tomas of Espanyol and Juanmi of Real Betis each with 12 goals. Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas and Joselu of Alaves follow with 11 goals each.

Karim Benzema leads by a five-goal margin and could be on his way to his first ever Pichichi. 

Italian Serie A

The Serie A Top scorer award (Capocannoniere award (literally “head gunner”)) is known as the Paolo Rossi award.

It is awarded by the Italian Football Association (AIC) to top scorers of each season. The award has been won most by Gunnar Nodahl of AC Milan who won it five times.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the last winner of the award after scoring 29 goals for Juventus last season.

Lazio’s Ciro Immobile and Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic lead the chase with 18 goals each. Simeone of Verona follows with 12 goals and Lautaro Martinez of Inter Milan follows with 11 goals.

Roma’s Tammy Abraham, Berardi of Sassuolo and Joao Pedro of Cagliari have 10 goals each.

French Ligue 1

The French Ligue 1 top scorer awards since it’s inception in 1932 has been won most by Carlos Bianchi, Dello Onnis and Jean-Pierre Papin, each winning it five times.

Kylian Mbappe is the last winner of the award, scoring 27 goals last season. Ben Yedder of Monaco leads the race with 14 goals, Lille’s Jonathan David and Mbappe follow closely with 12 goals.

Martin Terrier of Rennes and Amine Gouiri of Nice follow with 11 goals each.

Ligue 1’s top scorer is a close contention, it could be won by either of Ben Yedder or Mbappe. Jonathan David too should not be underestimated.

Meanwhile, a European Golden Boot awaits the player with the highest goals in all major leagues in Europe. Who do you think will win it? Let us know in the comments section. 

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