Bounou reaches Morocco century as En-Nesyri moves ahead of Ziyech

Yassine Bounou marked his 100th international appearance by helping Morocco beat Niger 5-1 in Casablanca and maintain their perfect start to qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

The goalkeeper became only the third player to reach a century of caps for the Morocco national team, following Noureddine Naybet, who leads the appearance list with 115, and Achraf Hakimi, who has played 104 times for the Atlas Lions.

Bounou’s landmark appearance was made more significant by his contribution to the result at Stade Mohammed V. With Morocco leading 2-1, he saved a 45th-minute penalty taken by Youssouf Oumar, preventing Niger from drawing level.

Niger had reduced the deficit four minutes earlier when Mohamed Abdelrahman capitalised on an error by Bounou, who had advanced from his goal. The Al Hilal goalkeeper quickly made amends by keeping out the penalty before Hakimi restored Morocco’s two-goal advantage in the third minute of first-half added time.

Bounou faced five attempts on target during the match as Morocco completed a convincing victory to move on to nine points and remain top of Group A.

The 35-year-old, who was born in Montreal on 5 April 1991, has established himself as one of the most prominent goalkeepers in Moroccan football. He was a key figure in Morocco’s run to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the first time an African or Arab national team had reached that stage.

He also won the 2023 Europa League with Sevilla.

Bounou has now saved 12 of the 60 penalties he has faced during his career, giving him a 20% success rate.

En-Nesyri climbs Morocco scoring list

Youssef En-Nesyri added Morocco’s fourth goal in the 77th minute, converting a pass from Hakimi to take his international total to 26.

That moved him above Hakim Ziyech, who has scored 25 goals for the national team. En-Nesyri is now third on Morocco’s all-time scoring list, behind Salah Eddine Bassir on 27 and record-holder Ahmed Faras on 36.

Record home run continues

The victory was also Morocco’s 16th successive home win in qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations and the World Cup.

According to French network Stats Foot, that is the national team’s longest winning run at home in this type of competition.

The sequence underlines Morocco’s improved results in recent years, during which they have become a leading force in both African and international football.