The race for the ISL 2026 Golden Boot is heating up as the tournament gathers pace, with forwards across clubs jostling for the top spot in the truncated edition.
The ISL Golden Boot is awarded to the highest goal-scorer of the season, making it one of the most prestigious individual accolades in the Indian Super League.
East Bengal striker Youssef Ezzejjari is currently the leading scorer in the ISL 2026 with 10 goals in as many games. Mohun Bagan Super Giant’s Jamie Maclaren is second on the goal-scoring charts with eight goals from nine.
The East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan battle at the top gives this year’s Golden Boot race a special significance. This is the first time in Indian Super League history that players from the two Kolkata giants are going toe-to-toe for the honour.
Punjab FC’s Nsungusi Effiong and FC Goa’s Dejan Drazic are also in the running for the Golden Boot.
The ISL 2026 season, which got underway on February 14, has already witnessed several standout attacking performances.
Maclaren scored the only hat-trick of ISL 2026 as he slipped past four against Odisha FC earlier in the season. The feat saw the Australian striker equal Modou Sougou’s record for most goals in a single Indian Super League football match.
Mumbai City FC captain Lallianzuala Chhangte is the top Indian goal-scorer in ISL 2026 so far with four.
Starting from the inaugural ISL season in 2014, the Golden Boot has been claimed by some of the finest forwards to grace Indian football.
The first-ever recipient was Brazilian playmaker Elano Blumer, who scored eight goals for Chennaiyin FC.
Among the most remarkable Golden Boot-winning campaigns, Alaaeddine Ajaraie’s record-breaking 23-goal season for NorthEast United FC in ISL 2024-25 remains unparalleled. The Moroccan forward also registered seven assists that season to finish with 30 goal contributions.
Ajaraie’s tally in ISL 2024-25 is the record for most goals scored by a player in a single ISL season. Ferran Corominas and Bartholomew Ogbeche, with 18 goals each in 2017-18 and 2021-22 respectively, are the next best.
Ferran Corominas is the only player to win the ISL Golden Boot multiple times – 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Interestingly, only one player in ISL history – Stiven Mendoza with Chennaiyin FC in 2015 – has managed to win both the Golden Boot and the ISL title in the same season.
In the 11 completed ISL seasons so far, there have been 10 different Golden Boot winners but none of them have been Indians.
Sunil Chhetri, the highest scorer overall in the ISL, has come the closest – finishing among the league’s top goal-scorers in multiple editions. His tally of 14 goals in the 2017-18 and 2024-25 campaigns is the most by an Indian in a single ISL season.
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/indian-super-league-football-isl-2026-golden-boot-most-goals-top-scorer-list
