Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe makes key move in Golden Boot race’s final stretch: How is the competition shaping up?

Nearing the end of the season, Kylian Mbappe has made a key move in the Golden Boot race after scoring a goal for Real Madrid.

Kylian Mbappe’s debut season with Real Madrid may have fallen short in terms of team trophies, but on an individual level, the French striker continues to shine. Now, he’s taken a major step in the European Golden Boot race, heating things up with just one week remaining in the season.

With La Liga already clinched by FC Barcelona and second place locked in, Real Madrid traveled to face Sevilla on Matchday 37. The home side suffered two red cards—Loic Baldé in the 12th minute and Isaac Romero in the 48th—which helped tilt the match in Madrid’s favor. Mbappe finally broke the deadlock in the 75th minute, and Jude Bellingham sealed the 2–0 win shortly after.

With his goal against Sevilla, Kylian Mbappe raised his La Liga tally to 29, moving into second place in the Golden Boot race with 58 points. He now trails only Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres, who leads with 39 goals and 58.5 points.

Although Mbappe hasn’t claimed the top spot yet, he holds a key advantage: Sporting’s season is already over, while Real Madrid still has one match remaining. Mbappe will have one final opportunity to find the net and potentially overtake Gyokeres to win the Golden Boot.

Real Madrid will host Real Sociedad next Saturday in their final La Liga fixture. As the league’s top scorer—currently ahead of Robert Lewandowski—Mbappe has one last shot at capturing the first Golden Boot of his career.

Golden Boot: Top 10 standings heading into the final week

As domestic seasons wrap up across Europe, only a few contenders remain within striking distance of the Golden Boot. Here are the current top 10 standings:

1. Viktor Gyokeres (Sporting Lisbon): 39 goals, 58.5 points.
2. Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid): 29 goals, 58 points
3. Mohamed Salah (Liverpool): 28 goals, 56 points.
4. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich): 26 goals, 52 points.
5. Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona): 25 goals, 50 points.
6. Mateo Retegui (Atalanta): 25 goals, 50 points.
7. Alexander Isak (Newcastle United): 23 goals, 46 points.
8. Mika Biereth (Sturm Graz & AS Monaco): 24 goals, 42.5 points.
9. Ousmane Dembele (Paris Saint-Germain FC): 21 goals, 42 points.
10. Erling Haaland (Manchester City): 21 goals, 42 points.

Although Gyokeres has outscored Mbappe by 10 goals, the Portuguese league uses a coefficient of 1.5 per goal in the Golden Boot formula, while La Liga and the other four major European leagues use a coefficient of 2.0. This scoring system is also why Mika Biereth’s goals for Austrian side Sturm Graz were weighted less than those in top-tier leagues.