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
