Bono, the impregnable fortress of the "Atlas Lions" den.

At the age of thirty-five, Yassine Bounou is considered a formidable wall for the Moroccan national football team and the sought-after solution to go far in the North American World Cup, if not to achieve better than the 2022 edition when they finished fourth.

Bounou, the best goalkeeper in Africa 2025, continues the tradition of Moroccan goalkeepers' brilliance throughout history, such as Badou Zaki, Allal Benkassou, and Hamid El-Hazzaz. The "Atlas Lions" owe their remarkable results in recent years to him; most notably the semi-final of the Qatar World Cup, reaching the global event for the seventh time in their history, and the final of the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.

Bounou has maintained a key position in his national team's lineup even after moving to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia, where he has established himself as an indispensable asset, continuously achieving individual accomplishments with them; the latest being this season, where he kept a clean sheet in 14 matches, tied with Senegalese goalkeeper Edouard Mendy of Al-Ahly.

Clean sheets were a hallmark for Bounou in five out of seven matches he played in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

He conceded only twice: a penalty against Mali (1-1) and a powerful shot from Senegal's Pape Gueye in the final that Morocco lost after extra time (0-1), which they won (3-0) on paper by a decision from the African Football Confederation (CAF) due to the withdrawal of the "Teranga Lions" players from the field in protest against a penalty awarded to the hosts, just seconds after a goal by Sadio Mane's teammates was disallowed in stoppage time of the original time.

The calm goalkeeper, who always has a smile on his face even in the darkest circumstances, took to his Instagram account after the final to lift the spirits of his players and his country's fans: "Always be happy. Life consists of two moments. Enjoying the present moment will always be my goal and my greatest challenge. Trophies come and go; but I will never compromise our values for selfishness," in a critique of the Senegalese players.

Bounou, who is known for his footwork, needed time to leave his mark with his national team. He was called up to the senior national team in 2012, after representing all age categories; however, he played his first international match in 2014 and had to wait until 2019 to become the number one in the "Atlas Lions" den.

He began his career with Wydad at the age of 20 at the Olympic Stadium in El Menzah, when he replaced the injured Nader El-Miyaghri in the second leg of the CAF Champions League final against Tunisian club Esperance, which won the title (0-0 in the first leg, 1-0 in the second leg).