LONDON: Robert Lewandowski remains, now with 26 goals, the ever-more-commanding leader of the ESM European Golden Shoe rankings.

Bayern Munich’s Poland captain won the prize last season with his German champions FIFA’s recrowned world player of the year totalled 41 goals in the Bundesliga to finish 11 clear of Barcelona’s Leo Messi and 12 ahead of third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus.

Second place remains the possession of Ohi Omoijuanfo of Molde in Norway but his season is already over.

Lewandowski’s nearest realistic challengers are Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick and Dusan Vlahovic, newly transferred from Fiorentina to Juventus. All total 19 goals thus far.

Scandinavian leagues which traditionally play to a calendar-year schedule always provide the initial leaders before being overtaken in due course by the superstars of western Europe.

Goals by marksmen from among the top five nations in the UEFA ranking benefit from a multiple of 2.0, the next batch (places six to 22 ) a factor of 1.5 and the remainder 1.0.

Last season Lewandowski was only the third player since 2010 to interrupt Messi and Ronaldo’s command of the award after Barcelona’s Luis Suarez in 2016 and Lazio’s Ciro Immobile last season.

As in other years the rankings does not include play-offs.

Golden Shoe leaders

1. Robert Lewandowski (FC Bayern München) 26 x 2 = 52
2. Ohi Omoijuanfo (Molde FK) 27 x 1,5 = 40,5
3. Thomas Lehne Olsen (Lillestrøm SK) 26 x 1,5 = 39
4. Ciro Immobile (SS Lazio Roma) 19 x 2 = 38
Patrik Schick (Bayer Leverkusen) 19 x 2 = 38
6. Dusan Vlahovic (AFC Fiorentina/Juventus) 18 x 2 = 36
7. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) 17 x 2 = 34
8. Veton Berisha (Viking FK Stavanger) 22 x 1,5 = 33
9. Erling Braut Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) 16 x 2 = 32
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool FC) 16 x 2 = 32
11. Deniz Undav (Union Saint-Gilloise) 20 x 1,5 = 30
12. Ricardo Jorge Gomes (FK Partizan Beograd) 19 x 1,5 = 28,5
13. Anthony Modeste (1.FC Köln) 14 x 2 = 28
Wissam Ben Yedder (AS Monaco) 14 x 2 = 28
15. Omer Atzili (Maccabi Haifa FC) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Mikkel Dahl (Havnar Bóltfelag) 27 x 1 = 27
Michael Frey (Royal Antwerp FC) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Marko Livaja (HNK Hajduk Split) 18 x 1,5 = 27
Darwin Núñez (SL Benfica) 18 x 1,5 = 27
20. Raúl de Tomás Gómez (RCD Espanyol) 13 x 2 = 26
21. Jonathan David (Lille OSC) 12 x 2 = 24
Sébastien Haller (AFC Ajax) 16 x 1,5 = 24
Diogo José Teixeira da Silva ‘Jota’ (Liverpool FC) 12 x 2 = 24
Juan Miguel Jiménez López ‘Juanmi’ (Real Betis Sevilla) 12 x 2 = 24
Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain) 12 x 2 = 24Giovanni Simeone (Hellas Verona) 12 x 2 = 24
‘Vinícius Júnior’ José Paixão de Oliveira (Real Madrid) 12 x 2 = 24
28. Eirik Botheim (Bodø/Glimt) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
Luis Fernando Díaz (FC Porto/Liverpool FC) 15 x 1,5 = 22,5
30. Tammy Abraham (AS Roma) 11 x 2 = 22
Iago Aspas Juncal (RC Celta de Vigo) 11 x 2 = 22
José Luis Mato Sanmartín ‘Joselu’ (Deportivo Alavés) 11 x 2 = 22
Gaëtan Laborde (Stade Rennais) 11 x 2 = 22
Lautaro Martínez (FC Internazionale Milano) 11 x 2 = 22
Christopher Nkunku (RasenBallsport Leipzig) 11 x 2 = 22
Martin Terrier (Stade Rennais) 11 x 2 = 22
Enes Ünal (Getafe CF) 11 x 2 = 22
38. Karim Adeyemi (Red Bull Salzburg) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Arthur Cabral Mendonça (FC Basel/ACF Fiorentina) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Jay Donnelly (Glentoran FC) 21 x 1 = 21
Artem Dovbyk (SK Dnipro-1) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Josip Drmic (HBK Rijeka) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Georgie Kelly (Bohemian FC Dublin) 21 x 1 = 21
Jasmin Kurtic (PAOK FC) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Ebere Onuachu (KRC Genk) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Theoson−Jordan Siebatcheu (BSC Young Boys) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Nikola Storm (KV Mechelen) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Dante Vanzeir (Union Saint-Gilloise) 14 x 1,5 = 21
Jelle Vossen (SV Zulte Waregem) 14 x 1,5 = 21
50. Martin Ádám (Paksi FC) 20 x 1 = 20
Ludovic Ajorque (Racing Strasbourg Alsace) 10 x 2 = 20
Henri Anier (Paide Linnameeskond) 20 x 1 = 20
Domenico Berardi (US Sassuolo Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Ángel Martín Correa (Club Atlético de Madrid) 10 x 2 = 20
Moussa Diaby (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) 10 x 2 = 20
Edin Dzeko (FC Internazionale Milano) 10 x 2 = 20
Serge Gnabry (FC Bayern München) 10 x 2 = 20
Amine Gouiri (OGC Nice) 10 x 2 = 20
Ui-Jo Hwang (FC Girondins de Bordeaux) 10 x 2 = 20
‘João Pedro’ Geraldino dos Santos Galvão (Cagliari Calcio) 10 x 2 = 20
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) 10 x 2 = 20
62. Gamid Agalarov (FC Ufa) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Assan Ceesay (FC Zürich) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Zinho Gano (SV Zulte Waregem) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Shamar Nicholson (RSC Charleroi/ FC Spartak Moskva) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Guus Til (Feyenoord Rotterdam) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5
Tom van Weert (Volos NFC) 13 x 1,5 = 19,5

** The Golden Shoe is administered, computed and formulated by the European Sports Media group whose members comprise: A Bola (Portugal), ElfVoetbal (Netherlands), Fanatik (Turkey), Foot Magazine (Belgium), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany), Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), GoalNews/Sentragoal (Greece), Guerin Sportivo (Italy), Kicker (Germany), Marca (Spain), Nemzeti Sport (Hungary), SoFoot (France), Sport Express (Russia), Telegraaf/Telesport (Netherlands), Tipsbladet (Denmark), World Soccer (England). Affiliated members: Kick Off (South Africa), Titan Sport (China), Netease (China), SportalKorea (South-Korea).

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