Since the European Golden Shoe award was rebooted to reflect the difference in difficulty between leagues in Europe, six players have won the award multiple times: DIego Forlan, Thierry Henry, Mario Jardel, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.
Between 1968 and 1991, the award was given to the top scorer in any European League, not taking into account the “difficulty” the scorer was presented with. From 1991 to 1996, no award was handed out following a protest from the Cyprus FA, which claimed that a Cypriot player with 40 goals should have received the award. The award was resumed in the 1996-1997 season, with European Sports Media giving it out, based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league. The weightings are determined by the league’s ranking on the UEFA coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league’s clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons. Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients list are multiplied by a factor of two, goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by a factor of 1.5, and goals scored in leagues ranked 22 and below are multiplied by a factor of 1.
Diego Forlan – 2 times
One of the most prolific goalscorers in the second half of the 00’s, Forlan won the award twice: In 2004-2005, when playing for Villarreal, scoring 25 league goals and winning his first Pichichi. He won it a second time in 2008-2009, playing for Atletico Madrid, scoring 32 league goals in 33 matches. Overall, during his time with both Spanish clubs, he scored 128 goals in 240 matches.
Thierry Henry – 2 times
Henry won his Golden Shoe trophies back to back, in 2004 and 2005, both while playing for Arsenal. He scored 30 goals in 37 matches for the Gunners in 2003-2004, leading them to their last league title during their invincibles season. He scored 25 league goals in 32 matches a season later. Overall, including his short loan stint with the club in 2012 later in his career, Henry scored 175 goals in 258 matches for the Gunners, leading the Premier League in scoring four times.
Mario Jardel – 2 times
From the moment Jardel landed in Europe after playing for Vasco and Gremio in Brazil, he was an unstoppable scoring machine. He finished with 130 league goals in 125 matches for Porto through four seasons, scored 22 goals in 24 matches for Galatasaray in 2001 and added 53 goals in 49 matches for Sporting after that, including 42 goals when leading them to a championship. For that 42 goal season in 2002 he won his second European Golden Shoe. The first came when he was playing for Porto, scoring 36 goals in 32 matches in the 1998-1999 season. He led the Portuguese league in scoring five times out of his first six seasons in Portugal.
Luis Suarez – 2 times
The second Uruguayan on the list, Suarez has won the award twice in the last three years. He scored 31 league goals in 33 matches for Liverpool in 2013-2014, leading them on a wild title race, failing in the end, but winning the European Golden Shoe. His second award came last season, breaking the Messi-Ronaldo hold on the Pichichi award, scoring 40 goals in 35 matches, winning his second championship with Barcelona. He scored 69 goals in 110 matches for Liverpool, including 54 on his last two seasons; he has 56 goals in 62 matches at Barca.
Lionel Messi – 3 times
Messi is the all-time leading scorer in the La Liga, and holds almost every possible scoring record at Barcelona too. He won his three European Golden Shoe awards in a span of five years: 2009, 2010 and 2013. In 2009, the year Barcelona changed the balance in Spain and Europe, he scored 23 goals in 31 matches, winning the league title and the Champions League. In 2012 Barcelona lost the league title, but Messi had a record breaking season, scoring 50 league goals and 73 in all competitions. He finished with an incredible 46 league goals in 32 matches as Barcelona won the league title for the fourth time in five years, winning his third EGS award.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 4 times
The only player to win the award four times. He did it first when playing for Manchester United, scoring 31 league goals in 34 matches, propelling himself to the top of the football world, as United won the league title and the Champions League. In 2010-2011, his second season with Real Madrid, he scored 40 league goals in 34 matches to win the award for a second time. After two years of Messi winning, Ronaldo shared the award with Suarez in 2014, scoring 31 goals in 30 league matches. He won it in 2015 again, scoring 48 goals in 35 matches. He has 260 goals in 236 matches for Real Madrid, the top scorer in club history, and the second highest scorer on the La Liga all-time list behind Messi.