Just before the second half of the season in the Jupiler Pro League starts, it will be announced who will win the 72nd Golden Shoe. It promises to be quite an exciting battle this year. But one contender seems to stand out.
The Golden Boot is still the most prestigious individual award in Belgian club football. But the voting procedure remains somewhat questionable. For example, the trophy is not awarded on the basis of one season. On the basis of two voting rounds, spread over one calendar year. The first round of voting therefore related to the second half of the past season.
READ ALSO:
Golden Boot: five big favorites, three outsiders
Top candidates are dropped
And that has a major influence on the eventual winner. Players who excelled in the first months of the year and subsequently secured a nice transfer see their chances of winning the final evaporate as they cannot collect points in the second voting round. Boys like Ardon Jashari, Noah Sadiki, Tolu Arokodare, Charles Vanhoutte, … therefore seem to have no chance in advance.
Since the second round of voting carries the most weight, players who have only performed top in recent months could benefit again. Consider, for example, Nathan De Cat (RSC Anderlecht), or Adem Zorgane, who has become a permanent trendsetter at leader Union SG. However, the greatest chance remains that the prize will ultimately go to a player who has scored in both voting rounds.
Tzolis at the top of the favorites list
There aren’t many options left in that regard. Bee The Latest Newsthe organizing newspaper behind the election, has now put forward an absolute top favorite: Christos Tzolis. The Greek international of Club Brugge can therefore present excellent figures. Over the entire calendar year of 2025, he scored 23 goals and 22 assists. Not counting his achievements with the national team.
He is currently at the top of both the goals and assists rankings in the Jupiler Pro League. Tzolis also had bad periods last year and missed out on the title with Club. But he did win the cup and super cup, while the winger also shone in the Champions League. There is therefore a real chance that he will succeed teammate Hans Vanaken on the honors list. He would then become the seventh winner on behalf of Club in just 10 editions.
