Moroccan goalkeeper Yassine Bono stood firm on his goal line in the first half, long delaying the decisive moment on Thursday in the World Cup quarter-final against France, before finally succumbing twice to world-class attackers Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé.

The Saudi Al-Hilal goalkeeper, who represented the last line of defense for a team that chose to retreat rather than take the initiative, gave the Atlas Lions the feeling that their goal would be impenetrable when he saved a weak penalty from Mbappé (28th minute).

Related news

It was the fourth penalty he saved in the World Cup, making him, according to statistics site Opta, joint top among goalkeepers for success in this test since 1966. His fellow backup goalkeeper Munir El Mohammedi said in praise: 'Bono is always present, and his performance during this tournament and his career with the national team are impressive. For me, he is the best goalkeeper in Africa and the Arab world.' In this high-stakes quarter-final, Bono, whose team beat the Netherlands on penalties in the round of 16, shone from the start, saving a shot from Mbappé (4th minute), then instinctively heading away a ball from Dayot Upamecano following a corner. Just before the water break, Mbappé was fouled in the area by Noussair Mazraoui, and VAR took a long time to confirm the penalty decision. Perhaps this wait affected the concentration of the 'Blues' captain, but not Bono, who waited until the last moment to dive to his left and catch the weak shot from the Real Madrid striker. - Six saves in total - This brilliance did not change the 'Lions' tactic, determined to keep a clean sheet guarded by a goalkeeper who was one of the main architects of Morocco's epic run in the 2022 World Cup. When midfielder Ayoub Bouaddi lost the ball and Désiré Doué tried to shoot, Bono was again on hand to turn it into a corner (35th). Just before the end of the first half, he also positioned well against a shot from Lucas Digne that hit the crossbar. He made his first mistake in a match that had been perfect until then at the start of the second half, failing to clear a short ball that ended in a throw-in (46th). French pressure increased in the 60th minute. Mbappé received the ball at the edge of the area, took two steps forward, then unleashed a precise curling right-footed shot from 18 meters. Bono tried to save it but couldn't reach it as it nestled into the side netting. The Moroccan dam collapsed, without the goalkeeper being blamed, as he simply faced the exceptional talent of France's top scorer (64 goals in 104 caps), who equaled Lionel Messi at the top of the 2026 World Cup scoring chart with eight goals. Morocco went into shock and failed to regain their balance. On the contrary, Bono conceded a second goal, despite getting a touch, following a low right-footed shot from Ousmane Dembélé (66th). The match was decided, but the goalkeeper did not give up. He saved a shot from Bradley Barcola (87th) and then heroically saved his goal in the last French attempt (90th minute). In total, the 35-year-old goalkeeper made six saves during the match, compared to just one for his French counterpart Mike Maignan (the statistics clearly show the difference: 21 shots, 8 on target for France, versus 4 shots, only 1 on target for Morocco). Bono conceded two goals against the precision of world-class attackers, yet if Morocco fell, the responsibility does not lie with him, but with the ten outfield players fielded by coach Mohamed Wahbi, who did not contribute much.