Yassine Bounou saves Kylian Mbappe's penalty to join the list of greatest penalty stopper in World Cup history

Yassine Bounou saved Kylian Mbappe's penalty during Morocco's quarterfinal clash against France, recording his record fourth career penalty save across in-game situations and shootouts at the FIFA World Cup. In doing so, he joined the most exclusive goalkeeping club in World Cup history as six men have each saved four penalties at the tournament, more than anyone else has ever managed.The save itself was breathtaking. Mbappé, France's captain and the tournament's second-highest scorer, stepped up with trademark confidence. Bounou went the right way, got a strong hand to it and pushed the ball away. The Moroccan fans inside Gillette Stadium in Boston erupted. And Bounou simply walked back to his line, calm as ever, as if he had done this before.

Because he has. Many times.The club Bounou has now joined is one of football's most storied.

Harald Schumacher of West Germany was the first to reach four penalty saves in World Cup history, doing so across the 1982 and 1986 tournaments, his most famous moment coming in the 1982 semifinal in Seville against France, widely regarded as one of the greatest and most controversial matches in World Cup history. Argentina's Sergio Goycochea then matched the feat across the 1990 World Cup alone, saving four penalties across two shootouts as Argentina reached the final in Italy, his heroics against Yugoslavia in the quarterfinal and Italy in the semifinal becoming the stuff of legend.

Croatia then provided two members of the club in successive tournaments. Danijel Subašić saved four penalties across two shootouts at Russia 2018, including a stunning three-save performance against Denmark in the round of 16. His compatriot and successor Dominik Livaković replicated the feat at Qatar 2022, saving three against Japan in the round of 16 before adding another against Brazil in the quarterfinals, helping Croatia reach the semifinal.Bounou's own journey to four saves is equally remarkable. At Qatar 2022, he saved two penalties from Spain's Sergio Busquets and Carlos Soler in a shootout, becoming only the second goalkeeper in history after Ukraine's Oleksandr Shovkovskyi in 2006 to get through a World Cup shootout without conceding a single kick. He then saved Crysencio Summerville's effort against the Netherlands in the Round of 32 at this tournament.

The save against Mbappé on Thursday is his fourth.Only four of the last 12 penalties Bounou has faced across Morocco's last three major tournament shootouts have been converted. The numbers speak for themselves.Six goalkeepers. Four saves each. A record that has stood across four decades of World Cup football. And now, a Moroccan goalkeeper born in Canada who learned his trade in Spain and plays his club football in Saudi Arabia has joined all of them.