The Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in the tournament. If there are multiple players with the same number of goals, the tie is broken by assists – as was the case at Euro 2020, where Cristiano Ronaldo (five goals, one assist) edged out Czech striker Patrik Schick (five goals, no assists).
If the top scorers also have equal assists, the winner will be the player with the fewest total minutes in the tournament. This happened at Euro 2012, where Spain’s Fernando Torres (189 minutes) pipped Mario Gomez of Germany (282 minutes) after both men notched three goals and one assist each.
Own goals do not count, and nor do penalties scored in shootouts – but penalties in normal or extra time do. Three of Ronaldo’s five goals at Euro 2020 came from the penalty spot, and all his goals were scored in the group stage.
The European Championship has recognised individual top scorers since the first edition in 1960, where five players shared first place. Michel Platini’s nine goals in 1984 is the highest total, with another Frenchman, Antoine Griezmann, in second thanks to his six-goal tally at Euro 2016.
Gerd Müller (1972), Marco van Basten (1988) and Alan Shearer (1996) are among the other big names to win the award – but who will claim it this time? France’s Kylian Mbappé and England’s Harry Kane are the favourites, while Ronaldo and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku (the top scorer in qualifying) should not be discounted.
The winner will not receive a traditional golden boot trophy – instead, they will receive the Alipay Top Scorer prize. “Sculpted in the shape of the Chinese character 支 (zhi), the barefoot player reflects the ideal that success comes regardless of status,” according to Uefa.