*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:04, 10 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 September 2024
Joining Athletic Bilbao's youth academy in 2013, he was promoted to the reserve team in 2020 and to the first team a year later, becoming a teammate of elder brother Iñaki Williams. Quickly being widely recognised for his speed and dribbling skills,[2] Williams debuted for Spain's senior side in 2022. He was a member of their 2022 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2024 squads, scoring and being named man of the match in the final of the latter as Spain won the tournament.
On 11 May 2020, Williams was promoted to the reserve team in the Segunda División B.[5] He made his first-team—and La Liga—debut on 28 April the following year, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jon Morcillo in a 2–2 home draw against Real Valladolid;[6] his brother Iñaki also came off the bench ten minutes later. It was the first time two siblings had been on the pitch at the same time for the club since Julio and Patxi Salinas in 1986.[7][8]
Williams scored his first two goals for the Lions on 6 January 2022, in a 2–0 win over Atlético Mancha Real in the campaign's Copa del Rey.[9] Seven days later, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the semi-final of the 2022 Supercopa de España.[10] On 20 January 2022, Williams was given a first team contract after meeting a number of clauses.[11]
Williams was a starter in four of the first five matches of the 2022–23 La Liga campaign, and was named player of the match in a 4–1 away win against Elche CF on 11 September 2022. In the first half-hour of the match he pressurised an opponent into conceding an own goal, was tripped to give his side a penalty (converted by Oihan Sancet) then scored himself via a dribble from the right wing and powerful shot for his first goal in the competition.[12] Coincidentally this was the same venue and opponent where his brother first found the net in the league seven years earlier.[13] He scored again the following week, the decisive goal of a 3–2 victory over Rayo Vallecano and his first at San Mamés.[14] After missing two good scoring chances in the 2022–23 Copa del Rey semi-final as Athletic were knocked out by rivals Osasuna, Williams was forced to deactivate his social media accounts temporarily due to the volume and nature of abusive messages sent to him;[15] he recovered from this disappointment to score the winner against Espanyol in the league four days later.[16][17]
Athletic made a strong start to the 2023–24 La Liga season with Williams providing numerous scoring chances, mainly from the left wing as coach Ernesto Valverde settled on a front line featuring Iñaki on the opposite flank and Gorka Guruzeta in the centre, supported by Oihan Sancet.[18][19] With Williams's contract expiring in 2024 and media speculation linking him with clubs such as Aston Villa, Barcelona, Liverpool and Real Madrid,[20][21] his representatives negotiated with the club for several months before a new contract running to 2027 was agreed on 1 December 2023.[22][8] On 6 April 2024 in the Copa del Rey final against Mallorca, he provided the assist for Sancet to score, and was subsequently named Man of the Match.[23] The final ended in a 1–1 draw and Athletic went on to win a penalty shootout to claim their first major trophy in 40 years.[24] The club also finished fifth in the league, their highest position for eight years.
International career
Williams first represented Spain with the under-18 squad in 2020, scoring two goals in four games.[25] He was called up to the Spain under-19s in February 2021,[26] and made his debut for the under-21s in September of the same year.[27] He received his first call-up to the senior squad, coached by Luis Enrique, for 2022–23 UEFA Nations League fixtures in September 2022, and made his debut in a 2–1 home defeat against Switzerland.[28] On November 17, he scored his first goal for the national team in a 3–1 friendly win against Jordan.[29] He subsequently was called up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,[30] where he made four appearances with one start as Spain were eliminated in a penalty shootout by Morocco in the round of 16.[31]
In May 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.[32] Williams was named man of the match in Spain's second group game of the tournament against Italy following a 1–0 victory.[33] He scored his first goal in the European competition in a 4–1 victory over Georgia in the round of 16, in addition to providing an assist and achieving 100% pass accuracy, becoming the first player to achieve this feat in the tournament.[8] He scored the opening goal of the final against England with a low left-footed shot following a pass from fellow winger Lamine Yamal; Spain won 2–1 to claim the trophy for a record fourth time[34] with Williams named as Player of the Match.[35]
Personal life
Williams reacts after missing a chance to score for Athletic Bilbao in 2023
Williams was born in Pamplona to Ghanaian parents, who travelled across the Sahara Desert to reach Melilla, a Spanish city in Northern Africa.[36][37][38] His parents had been advised by an unidentified lawyer to claim to be from a war-torn country, namely Liberia where a civil war was occurring, when they first entered Spain.[39][38]
His elder brother Iñaki Williams is also a footballer and a forward; he too was brought up at Athletic Bilbao, having been born in Bilbao a short time after his parents arrived there.[40][41][8] Nico typically wears Williams Jr on the back of his shirt, including in international matches that do not involve Iñaki (who represents Ghana internationally).[42]
^"Nico Williams y Guruzeta lideran LaLiga" [Nico Williams and Guruzeta lead LaLiga]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 1 December 2023. Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
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