Top five players with most European golden boots

Football is a game of numbers. Numbers deepened by statistics. However, no football match is complete without a goal.

The deciding factor in any football game is the number of goals scored by either team.

No wonder strikers are given all the accolades whenever a football match is decided.

Nobody remembers the great saves by the goalkeeper or interceptions made by the defenders, or midfielders.

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Everybody simply asks about the number of goals scored and who scored the goals.

For over two decades, five players of dominated the goal scoring department across Europe, winning the most ‘Golden Boot’.

These five players have between them 16 European golden boots, making them the most prolific strikers of the last two decades.

Two of the top five players, Messi and Ronaldo, have also dominated the global football scene in the last 20 years, emerging the best players for a record 8 and 5 Ballon d’Or wins, respectively.

Lionel Messi holds the record for the most Ballon d’Or wins, with eight. While five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo has the most nominations in the award’s history with 18.

The top five players to have won the most European ‘Golden Boot’ in the last 20 years are:

Lionel Messi 6X (2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2018)
Cristiano Ronaldo 4X (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015)
Luis Suarez 2X (2014, 2016)
Thierry Henry 2X (2004, 2005)
Robert Lewandowski 2X (2021, 2022)

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Top winners to date:

2024-25: Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid) – 31 goals

2023-24: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) – 36 goals

2022-23: Erling Haaland (Manchester City) – 36 goals

2021-22: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) – 35 goals

2020-21: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich ) – 41 goals

2019-20: Ciro Immobile (Lazio) – 36 goals

2018-19: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 36 goals

2017-18: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 34 goals

2016-17: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 37 goals

2015-16: Luis Suarez (Barcelona) – 40 goals

2014-15: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 48 goals

2013-14: Luis Suarez (Liverpool) – 31 goals; Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 31 goals

2012-13: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 46 goals

2011-12: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 50 goals

2010-11: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 40 goals

2009-10: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 34 goals

2011-12: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 50 goals

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2010-11: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) – 40 goals

2009-10: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) – 34 goals

2008-09: Diego Forlan (Atlético Madrid) – 32 goals

2007-08: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United) – 31 goals

2006-07: Francesco Totti (Roma) – 26 goals 2005-06: Luca Toni (Fiorentina) – 31 goals

2004-05: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 25; Diego Forlan (Villarreal) – 25 goals

2003-04: Thierry Henry (Arsenal) – 30 goals