MLS Golden Boot facts for kids
The MLS Golden Boot is a special award given to the player who scores the most goals in a single season of Major League Soccer (MLS). It's like being the top scorer in the league! This award has been given out every year since the 2005 season. Before 2005, there was a different award called the MLS Scoring Champion Award.
MLS Scoring Champion: 1996–2004
Before 2005, MLS had a different way to find its top scorer. They used a point system for the MLS Scoring Champion Award. Players earned two points for every goal they scored and one point for every assist (when they helped another player score). The player with the most points won the award.
| Season | Player(s) | Club(s) | Goals (2 points) | Assists (1 point) | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 |  Roy Lassiter |
Tampa Bay Mutiny | 27 | 4 | 58 |
| 1997 | Preki |
Kansas City Wizards | 12 | 17 | 41 |
| 1998 |  Stern John |
Columbus Crew | 26 | 5 | 57 |
| 1999 | Jason Kreis |
Dallas Burn | 18 | 15 | 51 |
| 2000 |  Mamadou Diallo |
Tampa Bay Mutiny | 26 | 4 | 56 |
| 2001 |  Alex Pineda Chacón |
Miami Fusion | 19 | 9 | 47 |
| 2002 | Taylor Twellman |
New England Revolution | 23 | 6 | 52 |
| 2003 | Preki (2) |
Kansas City Wizards | 12 | 17 | 41 |
| 2004 | Amado Guevara Pat Noonan |
MetroStars New England Revolution |
10 11 |
10 8 |
30 |
MLS Golden Boot: 2005–Present
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Since 2005, the MLS Golden Boot has been given to the player who scores the most goals. If two or more players score the same number of goals, the award goes to the player with more assists. This means that helping teammates score can be very important!
Some players have won the Golden Boot more than once. For example, Chris Wondolowski won it twice and is also the all-time top scorer in MLS history. In 2019, Carlos Vela set a new record by scoring 34 goals in one season for Los Angeles FC. The most recent winner for the 2024 season was Christian Benteke from D.C. United.
| Season | Player | Club | Goals | Games | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Taylor Twellman (2) |
New England Revolution | 17 | 25 | 0.68 |
| 2006 | Jeff Cunningham |
Real Salt Lake | 16 | 31 | 0.52 |
| 2007 |  Luciano Emilio |
D.C. United | 20 | 29 | 0.69 |
| 2008 | Landon Donovan |
Los Angeles Galaxy | 20 | 25 | 0.80 |
| 2009 | Jeff Cunningham (2) |
FC Dallas | 17 | 28 | 0.61 |
| 2010 | Chris Wondolowski |
San Jose Earthquakes | 18 | 28 | 0.64 |
| 2011 |  Dwayne De Rosario |
D.C. United | 16 | 33 | 0.48 |
| 2012 | Chris Wondolowski (2) |
San Jose Earthquakes | 27 | 32 | 0.84 |
| 2013 | Camilo Sanvezzo |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 22 | 32 | 0.69 |
| 2014 |  Bradley Wright-Phillips |
New York Red Bulls | 27 | 32 | 0.84 |
| 2015 |  Sebastian Giovinco |
Toronto FC | 22 | 33 | 0.67 |
| 2016 | Bradley Wright-Phillips (2) |
New York Red Bulls | 24 | 34 | 0.71 |
| 2017 |  Nemanja Nikolić |
Chicago Fire | 24 | 33 | 0.73 |
| 2018 |  Josef Martínez |
Atlanta United FC | 31 | 34 | 0.91 |
| 2019 |  Carlos Vela |
Los Angeles FC | 34 | 31 | 1.10 |
| 2020 |  Diego Rossi |
Los Angeles FC | 14 | 19 | 0.74 |
| 2021 |  Taty Castellanos |
New York City FC | 19 | 32 | 0.59 |
| 2022 |  Hany Mukhtar |
Nashville SC | 23 | 33 | 0.70 |
| 2023 |  Denis Bouanga |
Los Angeles FC | 20 | 31 | 0.65 |
| 2024 |  Christian Benteke |
D.C. United | 23 | 30 | 0.77 |
See also
In Spanish: Bota de Oro de la Major League Soccer para niños
