| Gouden Schoen, Solier d'Or | |
|---|---|
 Icon version of the Golden shoe | |
| Date | 1954; 71 years ago (1954) |
| Location | Belgium |
| Presented by | Het Laatste Nieuws |
| First award | 1954 |
| Current holder |  Hans Vanaken(3rd award) Tessa Wullaert(5th award) |
| Most awards | Paul Van Himst (4 awards) |
| Most nominations | Paul Van Himst (7 nominations) |
Inassociation football, theBelgian Golden Shoe (Dutch:Gouden Schoen,French:Soulier d'Or,German:Goldener Schuh) is anaward given in Belgium at the beginning of each civil year to the best footballer of theBelgian Pro League for the past year. The trophy is sponsored by the Belgian newspaperHet Laatste Nieuws.
The voters are a selection of Belgian press specialists and football personalities. They are invited to vote for the best player of the competition for both half seasons (previous season second half and current season first half) and each get to submit a top three, scoring 3, 2 and 1 point respectively. As a result, a player can receive all of his votes in one half season (e.g. if he joined the championship from abroad during summer), or he can receive votes for matches with two (or more) different teams, as withPhilippe Albert in 1992 andMbark Boussoufa in 2006.
Paul Van Himst has collected 4 Belgian Golden Shoes which is the current record.Jan Ceulemans andWilfried Van Moer have both won the trophy three times. The first foreigner to win the trophy was theDutchmanJohan Boskamp, especially for his excellence during the second half of the 1974–75 season, when his club,RWDM (currently defunct), won its first and only championship title. The only foreigners who have won the award more than once are theSwedePär Zetterberg and theMoroccanMbark Boussoufa. In 2011,ArgentinianMatías Suárez became the first South American to be awarded the Golden Shoe.
From 2000, an award was also given to the best Belgian footballer abroad, although this award was not handed out in certain years, specifically from 2003 to 2007 and 2010 to 2011. Since 2013, the best coach, best goalkeeper, and best youngster awards have also been handed out. Finally, in 2016,Tessa Wullaert was awarded the first-ever Golden Shoe for women football players. Contrary to the men's award which is awarded to the best player in Belgium, the women's award goes to the best Belgian footballer, playing either in Belgium or abroad.
| Country | Number of wins | Number of second places | Number of third places |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Van Himst | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Jan Ceulemans | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Wilfried Van Moer | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Hans Vanaken | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Franky Van der Elst | 2 | 2 | 0 |
 Mbark Boussoufa | 2 | 1 | 0 |
 Pär Zetterberg | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Jef Jurion | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Michel Preud'homme | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Country | Number of wins | Winning years | Number of second places | Number of third places |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 54 | 1954–1974, 1977–1992, 1994, 1996, 1998–1999, 2001–2002, 2004, 2007–2008, 2013–2015, 2018–2019, 2022–2024 | 48 | 54 |
 Netherlands | 3 | 1975–1976, 2017 | 3 | 3 |
| Sweden | 2 | 1993, 1997 | 1 | 1 |
| Morocco | 2 | 2006, 2010 | 2 | 0 |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 1 | 2012 | 2 | 0 |
 Czech Republic | 1 | 2000 | 1 | 0 |
 Serbia | 1 | 2009 | 1 | 0 |
 Argentina | 1 | 2011 | 0 | 1 |
 Australia | 1 | 1995 | 0 | 1 |
 Nigeria | 1 | 2021 | 0 | 1 |
 Ivory Coast | 1 | 2003 | 0 | 0 |
 Portugal | 1 | 2005 | 0 | 0 |
 Colombia | 1 | 2016 | 0 | 0 |
 Israel | 1 | 2020 | 0 | 0 |
 Spain | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
 Denmark | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
 Germany | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Austria | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Brazil | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Burundi | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Egypt | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Guinea | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Poland | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
 Croatia | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Romania | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Algeria | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 1 |
While the men's golden shoe award goes to the best player in the Belgian league, irrespective of his nationality, the women's award is targeted at the best Belgian female player, either in Belgium or abroad.
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National Men's Footballer of the Year award | |
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| CONMEBOL | |
| CONCACAF | |
