"It can't be." That's what Nico Williams mouthed as he dropped to the turf during Sunday's match against Valencia — and the MRI results that followed made it worse. A moderate hamstring injury in his left leg, one month before the World Cup.
The Athletic Club winger, who was named MVP of the Euro 2024 final just last summer, has now missed 17 games this season. Ten in La Liga. Five in the Champions League. One in the Copa del Rey, plus the Spanish Super Cup. He has completed just four full matches all season, spending most of it managing persistent pubic discomfort before this latest muscular blow.
Nico Williams might miss the World Cup opener — if he makes the squad at all
He'll sit out Athletic's final two league games and faces a minimum of one to two weeks on the sidelines. The RFEF submitted its provisional 55-man list to FIFA on the same day the injury was confirmed — Williams is on it — but the final 26-man squad must be locked in by June 2. That's his window.
It's tight. And it's not just him. Lamine Yamal, Rodri, Mikel Merino, and Víctor Muñoz are all carrying fitness concerns of their own. Luis de la Fuente is building his World Cup squad around a growing injury list.
Spain's attacking depth will still get them through most group-stage scenarios, but the knock-on effect for betting markets is real. A Williams-less Spain is a less dynamic Spain — the kind of team that creates fewer chances in wide areas and leans harder on Yamal, who isn't fully fit either.
His brother said he was walking badly
Iñaki Williams, who plays alongside him at Athletic, offered the most telling detail after the match.
"He was walking quite badly. He said he had never felt pain like that before."
That's not a quote you associate with a player who'll be sprinting down the left wing in three weeks. Iñaki was measured about the World Cup angle — "we're also close to the World Cup, but the toughest part is that we can't count on him in these final matches" — but the concern behind those words was obvious.
At 22, with Euro 2024 glory still fresh, Williams should be heading into this tournament as one of Spain's most dangerous weapons. Instead, he's on crutches, hoping a hamstring heals fast enough to catch a flight to North America.
