The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) has ranked its top ten goalkeepers for 2022.
Morocco’s Yassine Bounou secured the 3rd spot with 55 points, becoming the first African Goalkeeper to enter in the top 3 of the prestigious global rankings.
IFFHS published its rankings on January 5, with the title “IFFHS Awards 2022 – Men’s World Best Goalkeeper.”
Belgium’s and Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois won the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper 2022 Award, securing the first position with 125 points.
He is followed by the Argentina international and Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. With his saves having played a central role in Argentina’s winning the 2022 World Cup, Martinez scored 110 points in IFFHS’s rankings.
Currently playing for Sevilla in the top-tier Spanish league, Yassine Bounou secured the 3rd position with 55 points.
Bounou has gained popularity in recent months with his impressive World Cup performances and his constant heroics with Sevilla.
In May 2022, Bounou made history by becoming the first African Arab, as well as the first Sevilla goalkeeper to win the Zamora Trophy.
The annual award is given to the best goalkeeper in La Liga, the Spanish top-tier football league, meaning the Moroccan goalkeeper outperformed the likes of Courtois, Jan Oblak, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bounou made international headlines with his stellar performances for Morocco.
His penalty saves gave Morocco the edge over Spain in the round of 16, while his inspired reflexes and outstanding saves kept Portugal at bay in a tense quarter-final game that Morocco ended up winning 1-0. He was awarded the Man of the Match award after the Portugal game.
King Mohammed VI recently decorated Bounou and his Atlas Lions teammates with a third-class Order of the Throne Wissams (Officer) for making Morocco the first African and Arab-speaking country to qualify for the World Cup semifinals.
