2026 World Cup in doubt for Nico Williams after new injury blow – “He has never felt pain like this”

2026 World Cup in doubt for Nico Williams after new injury blow – “He has never felt pain like this”

In the next few weeks, Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente will name his 26-man squad for this summer’s World Cup in North America. The expectation has been that Nico Williams’ name will feature after his recent return from injury, but a new blow has now cast strong doubts on his possible involvement.

In the first half of Athletic Club’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia on Sunday, Williams went down with an apparent muscle injury. He could not continue, and while there is no clarity at this stage regarding how long he could be out, it’s taken for granted that he will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, as per Diario AS.

It has been an extremely difficult season for Williams. He started suffering with pubalgia back in September, and it was only until a few weeks ago that the issue appeared to finally clear, which makes this new setback all the more painful – in more ways than one.

Inaki Williams provides update on brother’s injury

After the Valencia match, Inaki Williams spoke to DAZN regarding the situation with younger brother Nico. He admitted that the early signs do not look particularly good.

“The injury is a bit of a question, for the moment it is, he was sweet, returning to his level. Now, fingers crossed that he comes back as soon as possible. The messed up thing is that he leaves us without him these days – he is also close to the World Cup, but the hard thing is that we cannot count on him in the last games.

“I have just spoken with him. It is not the time to overwhelm him and he will have many things on his mind. He was quite sad, he said that he has never felt pain like this.”