African goalkeepers make history with three Yachine Trophy nominations

For the first time, three African goalkeepers are among the 10 nominees for the 2026 Yachine Trophy, marking the continent’s strongest representation yet in the award for the world’s best goalkeeper.

Yassine Bounou, Edouard Mendy and Vozinha will represent Morocco, Senegal and Cape Verde respectively in the contest. Their inclusion is particularly notable in an exceptionally international shortlist featuring goalkeepers from Africa, Europe and South America.

No previous edition of the Yachine Trophy has included as many African representatives.

Africa had previously placed two goalkeepers among the 10 nominees, in both 2022 and 2023. Edouard Mendy finished fourth and Bounou eighth in 2022, while Bounou was third and Andre Onana sixth the following year. In 2026, African goalkeepers account for 30% of the candidates.

Bounou and Mendy are now familiar figures in major individual awards. Bounou comes into the shortlist after another outstanding World Cup with Morocco, as well as a season in which his club finished second in the Saudi Arabian league.

Mendy continues to draw on his international standing with Senegal, his decisive saves at the Africa Cup of Nations and his consistent performances in Saudi Arabia.

The most unusual inclusion is Vozinha. The veteran Cape Verde goalkeeper’s place on a list alongside Thibaut Courtois, Emiliano Martinez, David Raya, Gregor Kobel and Unai Simon rewards a far less conventional career path. He emerged late on the international stage, making his breakthrough at the World Cup at the age of 40.

The presence of the three goalkeepers also carries a wider significance.

For decades, the position was regularly portrayed as one of the structural weaknesses of African football. Errors by some goalkeepers at major tournaments sometimes encouraged a caricatured assumption that African players in the position were less reliable or had received inferior coaching.

The modern reality suggests otherwise.

Bounou has already shown at the highest European and international levels that he can compete among the world’s elite. Mendy won the Champions League with Chelsea and was named the best goalkeeper in the world by FIFA in 2022. The emergence of players from countries less accustomed to individual recognition, such as Vozinha, broadens that picture further.

The 2026 shortlist also reflects the increasingly global nature of goalkeeping.

Morocco, Senegal and Cape Verde are joined by Spain, which has three nominees, as well as Belgium, Switzerland, Argentina and Russia. Nine different nationalities are represented among the 10 candidates.

On paper, Bounou appears to have the strongest case of the three African contenders for a high finish, although the quality of the opposition makes victory particularly difficult.

The greater achievement may already have been secured. With three nominees out of 10, African goalkeepers are no longer an anomaly at the highest level of world football. They are now firmly established among its leading figures.