Munir Mohand Mohamedi El Kajoui ( ar, منير مهند محمدي الكجوي; born 10 May 1989), known simply as Munir, is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club Al Wehda FC and the Morocco national team. He played for Ceuta B, Almería B, Melilla, Numancia, Málaga,

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. History Hatayspor was founded on 23 July 1967. In July 2020, the team achieved promotion to t ...

and Al Wehda. Born in Spain, Munir represented

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

at international level, making his debut in 2015 and being part of the squads at two

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

and three Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

Club career

Born in Melilla, Munir graduated from lowly CG Goyu Ryu's youth setup, and made his debut as a senior with

AD Ceuta Asociación Deportiva Ceuta was a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Ceuta. Founded in 1996, its last season was 2011–12 in Segunda División B, holding home matches at ''Estadio Alfonso Murube'', with a capacity of 6,500. ...

's reserves in 2008, in the regional leagues. On 29 January of the following year he moved to another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

, UD Almería B from

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the '' Segunda División'', and the semi-professional '' Segunda ...

, but appeared sparingly and was subsequently released. Munir joined

UD Melilla Unión Deportiva Melilla is a Spanish football team based in the autonomous city of Melilla. Founded in 1976, it currently plays in Segunda División RFEF – Group 5, holding home matches at '' Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro'', with a 8,000 c ...

in summer 2009, initially being assigned to the reserves and being definitely promoted to the main squad in the Segunda División B the following year. He acted mainly as a backup to

Pedro Dorronsoro Pedro José Dorronsoro González (born 19 May 1977) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Torrelavega, Cantabria, Dorronsoro finished his youth career with local SD Reocín, and made his senior debut wi ...

in his first two seasons at the club, becoming a starter afterwards. On 17 June 2014, Munir signed a two-year contract with Segunda División side

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, holding home games at ''Nuevo Estadio Los ...

. On 10 September he made his professional debut, starting in a 1–1 away draw against CD Leganés in the second round of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

and also saving two penalties during the shootout. Munir made his debut in the second tier on 19 October 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 loss at

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at t ...

. He was first choice for the remainder of the campaign, overtaking Biel Ribas. Munir left the

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populati ...

team at the end of 2017–18, after losing his starting spot to Aitor Fernández. On 19 July 2018, he joined Málaga CF also in the second division. From

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, Munir competed in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

with

. On 10 June 2022, he agreed to a two-year deal at Saudi Arabian club Al Wehda FC.

International career

Having Moroccan heritage, Munir switched his allegiance to its national team in 2014. On 9 March 2015, he was called up by manager

Ezzaki Badou Ezzaki Badou ( ar, الزاكي بادو; born 2 April 1959), nicknamed Zaki, is a Moroccan football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He manages CS Chebba. Playing career Born in Sidi Kacem, Zaki represented AS ...

for a friendly against

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

to be held late in the month, and made his debut by starting in the 0–1 loss. On 29 December 2016, Munir was included in

Hervé Renard Hervé Jean-Marie Roger Renard (born 30 September 1968) is a French professional football coach and former player who is the manager of the Saudi Arabia national team. Renard has previously been the manager of Zambia national team, with whom ...

's 23-man squad for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

, and started the whole tournament ahead of Yassine Bounou. He was also selected to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, making his first appearance in the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

on 15 June in the 1–0 group stage defeat to

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Munir was also selected for the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2021 Africa Cup of Nations The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (also referred to as AFCON 2021 or CAN 2021), known as the TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's foo ...

and the

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

. After starter Bounou fell ill shortly before the start of the group-stage fixture against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in the latter tournament, he replaced him and eventually contributed to a 2–0 win in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

; he and his teammates were part of the first African nation ever to reach the semi-finals of the competition.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Individual *

Ricardo Zamora Trophy The Zamora Trophy ( es, Trofeo Ricardo Zamora, link=no) is a football award, established by Spanish newspaper '' MARCA'' in 1958. The award goes to the goalkeeper who has the lowest "goals-to-games" ratio.Similar to goals against average in ic ...

: 2019–20 Segunda División

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohamedi, Munir 1989 births Living people Citizens of Morocco through descent Spanish sportspeople of Moroccan descent Spanish footballers Moroccan footballers Footballers from Melilla Association football goalkeepers Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players UD Almería B players UD Melilla footballers CD Numancia players Málaga CF players Süper Lig players Hatayspor footballers Saudi Professional League players Al-Wehda Club (Mecca) players Morocco international footballers 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Spanish expatriate footballers Moroccan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Moroccan expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia