World Cup goalkeeper has seemingly revolutionised how to save penalty kicks, Matt Freese take note
· Yahoo Sports
Much of the 2026 World Cup knockout rounds have already become a shootout lottery, and one goalkeeper is bending the odds better than anyone.
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The Round of 32 served up a string of penalty shootouts, and Belgium needed the latest goal in World Cup history — Youri Tielemans’ spot kick at 124 minutes and 44 seconds — to edge past Senegal on Wednesday. Germany and the Netherlands both went out on penalties on the same night.
With every knockout tie able to run the full distance, composure from 12 yards has never mattered more.
One man stands above the rest. Morocco’s Yassine “Bono” Bounou owns a remarkable shootout record, and much of it comes down to a technique he has started employing. It seems to be throwing takers off.
Photo by Tnani Badreddine/DeFodi Images via Getty ImagesMorocco’s Bono is revolutionizing penalty saving at the World Cup
Only four of the last 12 penalties Bono has faced across his previous three major-tournament shootouts have been converted — a run spanning Spain at the 2022 World Cup, Nigeria at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the Netherlands last week.
The eye-catching part is how he does it. Rather than planting himself in the middle of his goal and waiting to dive, Bono has taken to standing tall and shifting his position before the kick.
That posture lets him cover close to half the goal on his own — low enough to block a shot with his feet, upright enough to reach a high effort with his hands, without going to ground too early.
It worked memorably against the Netherlands, where his stop from Crysencio Summerville set up Ismael Saibari’s winning kick. Some observers have floated the idea that, if the method catches on, it could one day carry his name — like the Panenka did for its inventor.
Matt Freese and the USA could be next to face the test
United States goalkeeper Matt Freese may want to pay attention.
The USA are surging through the tournament, beating Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on Wednesday for a first World Cup knockout win since 2002 and a third victory at the 2026 finals — the most the country has ever managed at a single tournament.
Belgium await in the Round of 16, and if the shootout theme of the knockouts holds, Freese could find himself staring down a taker from the spot before long.
Bono’s numbers are the benchmark he would be chasing, and maybe he’ll take inspiration from the technique as well.
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