The verdict is in — and it wasn’t the one a lot of Madridistas were expecting. Real Madrid have officially named Kylian Mbappé as their Player of the Month for August 2026, edging out Jude Bellingham despite the Englishman being widely regarded by supporters as the squad’s most impressive performer across the opening weeks of the new campaign.
What Happened
Real Madrid confirmed the award on Thursday, September 3rd, with Mbappé claiming the club’s first monthly honour of the 2026/27 season. The Frenchman had been among a five-man shortlist that included Bellingham, and his case was a formidable one: four goals in just three La Liga appearances in August, headlined by a hat-trick against Real Sociedad. That kind of clinical output is hard to argue with, whatever your personal preference might be.
Bellingham’s omission will still raise a few eyebrows given the buzz around his performances. The former Borussia Dortmund midfielder was the name on most fans’ lips heading into the vote, and being on the shortlist only to miss out will sting slightly — even if the man who pipped him had a genuinely outstanding month in front of goal.
A Flying Start Under Mourinho
The backdrop to all of this is a Real Madrid side that has come out of the blocks at serious pace in the league. Under new head coach José Mourinho — whose return to elite club management at the Bernabéu is one of the big talking points of European football this season — Los Blancos have won all three of their opening La Liga fixtures, scoring ten goals and conceding just two in the process. That is the kind of early-season momentum that gets a fanbase excited, and the competition for individual awards within such a free-scoring squad is only going to grow fiercer as the weeks go on.
Mourinho, of course, is a manager who tends to demand collective discipline first and foremost, but he’ll be thrilled to have attacking options of this calibre firing from day one. When Mbappé, Bellingham, and the likes of Arda Güler are all competing for individual recognition in the same month, it speaks volumes about the depth of quality available in the final third.
What It Means for Real Madrid’s Season
For supporters, the real takeaway here isn’t who won the award — it’s what that competition tells us about where Real Madrid are right now. Mbappé bagging four goals in three games and still having Bellingham right on his heels in the fan conversation is a genuinely exciting problem to have. Last season, consistency was sometimes an issue for both players individually; if they can sustain performances like these across a full campaign, Real Madrid will be a terrifying prospect in La Liga and in Europe.
Bellingham, for his part, has shown in his time at the Bernabéu that he is the kind of character who responds to being overlooked — he’s a fiercely competitive individual who will likely take any perceived slight as motivation rather than a reason to sulk. Expect him to be in the thick of the conversation again when the September award rolls around.
As for Mbappé, landing the first individual honour of the season is a statement of intent. The hat-trick against Real Sociedad alone would have been enough to make the case, and a four-goal haul from three games is exactly the kind of return Real Madrid signed him to deliver on a consistent basis. If this is the level he’s operating at from the jump, supporters will be dreaming big this season — and rightly so.
All in all, it’s a feel-good moment for the club — even if Bellingham’s fans will feel their man was unlucky. The bigger picture? Real Madrid look sharp, their attackers look hungry, and August was just the beginning.
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