The European Golden Shoe is widely considered to be one of the most coveted individual prizes in football.
The honor, which is given annually to the top goal scorer in Europe, examines all European leagues before choosing the final winner. The number of points provided varies by league, with players in the best leagues receiving two points for each goal.
Past winners of this award have gone down in history as some of the greatest football players of all time. While many players have won the prize, only a few have won it more than once.
Top 5 football players with the highest number of European Golden Shoe awards of all time
5. Gerd Muller: 2 European Golden Shoes
Many consider Gerd Muller to be the best German footballer of all time. The German striker is one of the most illustrious Bayern Munich players of all time. Muller played for Bayern Munich for 13 years, from 1964 to 1979, and made over 600 appearances for the club.
Muller had a total of 566 goals and 102 assists throughout his career with the club. Muller’s goal-scoring performance was simply astounding, despite his lack of pace and height.
Muller was West Germany’s all-time leading scorer until 2014, as well as Bayern Munich’s all-time leading scorer until last year. He has received the European Golden Shoe twice.
4. Luis Suarez: 2 European Golden Shoes
Luis Suarez is undoubtedly his generation’s best striker. The Uruguayan forward has had a stellar career in the Netherlands, England, and Spain, earning numerous individual and club awards along the way.
Suarez rose to prominence during his time with Liverpool, where he scored a slew of goals for the Merseyside club. Following that, he moved to Barcelona, where he continued to compete at a high level.
Suarez is noted as being the only player to break Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s nearly decade-long duopoly in the European Golden Shoe. He has five La Liga titles, four with Barcelona and one last year with Atletico Madrid. In the 2014-15 season, he also won the UEFA Champions League with Barcelona. Suarez has won the European Golden Shoe award twice in his career.
3. Thierry Henry: 2 European Golden Shoes
Thierry Henry will be regarded as an Arsenal and Premier League legend for the rest of his life. Between 1999 and 2007, the Frenchman won a slew of trophies during his eight years with the Gunners. He helped Arsenal win two Premier League crowns and two FA Cups with his 175 Premier League goals.
Henry holds the most Premier League Golden Boot awards of any player in league history, with four. Henry is also the first player in history to score at least 20 goals in each of the last five seasons. In 2007, he relocated to Barcelona, where he found greater success. The sextuple with Barcelona in the 2009-10 season was Henry’s greatest achievement at club level.
Henry was also a member of the French World Cup-winning team in 1998. Henry is widely recognized as the greatest-ever player in the Premier League, having won the European Golden Shoe for two years in a row from 2003 to 2005.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo: 4 European Golden Shoes
Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time leading goalscorer in football. In the world of football, Ronaldo is unquestionably a household name. Ronaldo has won pretty much every club-level award at least once during his illustrious career.
After bursting onto the scene with Manchester United, Ronaldo’s most successful era came after a move to Real Madrid. Ronaldo played 438 times for Los Blancos, scoring 450 goals in the process.
Ronaldo was the driving force behind the team’s UEFA Champions League success, winning four championships in just five years. He’s also the only player in history to win the Golden Boot in three different countries: England, Italy, and Spain.
Ronaldo has four European Golden Shoes, one with Manchester United and three with Real Madrid. Ronaldo has a long list of accomplishments, and it’s safe to assume he’ll go down as one of the greatest players in football history.
1. Lionel Messi: 6 European Golden Shoes
Lionel Messi is largely recognized as the greatest player in history. The Argentinian made his professional debut with FC Barcelona and went on to play for the Blaugrana for 17 years. Messi has etched his name into football history forever, displaying raw talent and unrivalled mastery of the game.
Messi has an incredible record with Barcelona. He has appeared in 778 games for the club, scoring an incredible 672 goals. In addition, he has 303 assists for the club.
Messi won 10 La Liga crowns, four UEFA Champions League titles, and three FIFA Club World Cup medals during his stay in Spain. His supremacy on the world stage is unrivaled, having won a record seven Ballon d’Or medals. Messi holds the record for most consecutive wins with six, making him the first player in history to do so.
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