Yassine Bounou, the Moroccan goalkeeper, created history at the Al Thumama Stadium on Saturday after putting up a valiant show against Portugal by knocking them out and taking Morocco to the FIFA World Cup semi-final, becoming the first African team ever to do so.

The only goal in the match was scored by Youssef En-Nesyri in the 42nd minute, which was enough to see the North African team through to the semi-final of the FIFA World Cup 2022. 

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Who is Yassine Bounou? 

Yassine Bounou was born on April 5, 1991, in Madrid, Spain. He plays for the Spanish club Sevilla alongside Morocco’s national team as a goalkeeper. He played most of his career in Spain, earning 56 appearances in Segunda Division for Zaragoza and Girona and over 100 La Liga outings for Girona and Sevilla. In 2020, he helped Sevilla win the UEFA Europa League.

Bounou is one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga at the moment. He conceded only 24 goals in 31 appearances in the 2021-22 season, which earned him the goalkeeper of the year award in the La Liga season 2021-22. 

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Bounou, a full international for Morocco since 2013, has competed in three Africa Cup of Nations competitions and two FIFA World Cups. He also represented Morocco in the 2012 Olympics and also previously played for the Morocco under-23 team.

His club career started with the Canada-based club Wydad Casablanca. After that, he moved to Spain to join Atletico Madrid in June 2012. He stayed with them for two years before joining Real Zaragoza in 2012. From there, he moved to Girona in 2016 and continued playing for them till 2010. He joined Sevilla on a one-year loan in 2019 and became permanent in September 2020.