Despite having spent several seasons competing in Saudi football, Bounou is one of the French magazine's regular nominees because of his outstanding performances, especially after the excellent World Cup he had with his country this summer. Although the former Zaragoza player is by no means one of the favorites to win the trophy given the quality of the competitors he will face, his best finish came in 2023, when he placed third while playing for Sevilla.
Nominated for the 2026 Men's Goalkeeper of the Year ??
???? Yassine Bounou ???? Thibaut Courtois ???? Joan García ???? Gregor Kobel ???? Emiliano Martínez ???? Édouard Mendy ???? David Raya ???? Matvey Safonov ???? Unai Simón ???? Vozinha#ballondor pic.twitter.com/WFvHYOqC5q — Ballon d'Or (@ballondor) September 8, 2026
Spain's three goalkeepers, Unai Simón, David Raya and Joan García, are among the nominees. They are joined by Thibaut Courtois, Gregor Kobel, Emiliano Martínez, Edouard Mendy, Matvey Safonov and Vozinha. The last winner was Gianluigi Donnarumma, who is not among the candidates this year.
Unai Simón is the most likely winner after his outstanding World Cup, although Courtois or 'Dibu' Martínez could also be chosen because of their careers. It should be remembered that the Argentine has already won this award twice.
BOUNOU'S CAREER IN ZARAGOZA
Yassine Bounou arrived in Zaragoza in 2014 on loan from Atlético de Madrid and stayed until 2016, completing two seasons with Real Zaragoza in Spain's Segunda División. Although he later established himself as an excellent goalkeeper, during his time in the Aragonese capital he never managed to become the undisputed starter in the Zaragoza goal.
In his two years with the Aragonese club, he played a total of 38 matches in what was, so to speak, his first experience as a professional after coming through Atlético de Madrid's youth academy and before moving on to Girona, Sevilla and Al-Hilal, his current team.
