NEO Maroc

Yassine Bounou. Born on April 5, 1991. A professional Moroccan football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Al Hilal Club in the Saudi Professional League and the Moroccan national team.

 

Yassine Bounou

Yassine Bounou

Yassine Bounou was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on April 5, 1991, to Moroccan parents from the city of Fez. His father is a state engineer and a teacher at the Hassania School of Public Works. After returning with his family to Morocco when he was three years old, they settled in the Marse Sultan area in Casablanca.

His football career

Yassine's passion for football appeared at an early age, and his father noticed this when he was playing with the children in the neighborhood, so he enrolled him in the Moroccan Wydad Sports Club football school when he was 8 years old, and from there he began his sports career in the club in 1999, then he progressed through various ranks. He played in the youth categories of the team until 2010 when he finally got his chance to represent the first team. 

Yassine Bounou has represented his country, Morocco, since 2011. He rose through the age groups of the team, where he played with the Moroccan national team for the under-20 age group, then the Moroccan national team for the under-23 age group, before rising to the first team in 2012.

The clubs he played for

He began his professional career with Wydad Athletic Club, and in June 2012 he moved to Atletico Madrid, in September 2014 he moved to Real Zaragoza on loan, and in July 2016 he moved to Girona Club, and on September 2, 2019, he moved to Seville Club. On August 13, 2023, he moved to Al Hilal Club.

His collective achievements

• With Wydad Athletic Club: Moroccan National Championship: 2009-10 and CAF Champions League Runner-up: 2011.

• With Atletico Madrid: Spanish League: 2013-14 and Spanish Super Cup: 2014.

• With Sevilla: Europa League with: 2019–20, 2022–2 and European Super Cup runner-up: 2020, 2023.

• With the Moroccan national team: fourth place in the World Cup: in 2022.

The personal achievements

• Zamora Prize: 2021–22.

• Best African Goalkeeper Award: 2023.

• Golden Lion Award for the best African player: 2023.

• Best African Player Award in the Spanish League: 2021–22.

• Spanish League season lineup: 2021–22.

• Europa League season lineup: 2019–20, 2022–23.

• Europa League Man of the Match Final: 2022–23.

• FIFA: Africa squad of the year: 2022.

• Moroccan Federation Best Moroccan Professional Goalkeeper: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23.

• Saudi Professional League Goalkeeper of the Month: October 2023, November 2023.

His record numbers

• The first Arab goalkeeper to win a European continental title (European League).

• The first Arab goalkeeper to be nominated for the FIFA Award and the France Football Award for the best goalkeeper in the world.

• The first African and Arab goalkeeper to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or for the best player in the world.

• The first African and Arab goalkeeper to score a goal in the five major leagues (Spanish League).

• The first African and Arab goalkeeper to keep the highest number of clean sheets (three matches) in a single edition of the World Cup.

• The first goalkeeper in the history of Sevilla to score a goal in the Spanish League.

• The first goalkeeper in the history of Sevilla to win the Zamora Award.

• The goalkeeper with the most goals in the Spanish League in the 21st century, with (3 goals).

• The goalkeeper kept the most clean sheets with the Sevilla club for (557) minutes, breaking the record of the previous Portuguese goalkeeper Beto (516) minutes.

• The goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in Europe in 2021 (32 “clean sheets”), surpassing all goalkeepers in various European leagues.

• The best position for an African or Arab goalkeeper in the history of the Golden Ball Award for the best player in the world (13).

His personal life

Yassine Bounou is settled in Saudi Arabia with his Moroccan wife, Iman, and their son, due to the circumstances of his playing with Al Hilal Club.