Nico Williams' journey led him to become Spain's Euro star

"The manager asks me to take people on," Williams said after the game, per The Guardian. "I felt incredible. A dribble is like playing back in the park when you’re a kid."

While Williams appears to be heir apparent to Spain's attacking tradition, his journey to the top was anything but linear.

His development, along with the development of his older brother, Inaki Williams — also a professional soccer player — began thousands of miles away in Ghana, where his parents set off for Europe on foot to build a better life for their young family. They crossed the Sahara desert before entering the Spanish-Moroccan enclave of Melilla to secure their passage to the Spanish mainland.

"I didn't know they had crossed the desert by foot," Inaki told The Guardian. "I knew my dad had problems with the soles of his feet, but not that it was because he had walked barefooted across the Sahara sand at 40, 50 degrees Celsius [well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit]."

The Williams family settled in Pamplona in the north of Spain, where Inaki was soon born. Nico followed eight years later, and the two quickly showed promise in soccer.

Their local team, Athletic Bilbao, had a controversial rule: It only accepted players of Basque descent. Inaki and Nico are ethnically Ghanaian, but they had Basque papers from their Pamplona births.

Debates raged over their Basque "legitimacy," but they were eventually accepted into Bilbao's program and became just the second and third Bilbao players of African descent.

The decision to welcome the Williams brothers paid off for Bilbao. They play together every weekend, and this season, they won Spain's prestigious Copa del Rey together — Bilbao's first trophy in decades.

While Inaki played for Bilbao first, it's Nico who caught the eyes of the world. But Nico is quick to remind people that he wouldn't be anywhere without his brother's trailblazing help.

"My brother opened a path for Africans in Bilbao; he has left a legacy," Nico said. "Now there is a mix of cultures. He made that possible." 

Inaki, fulfilling a promise to his grandfather, opted to play for Ghana in international soccer. He took part in the World Cup in 2022 and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2024. Nico, though, opted to play for Spain instead and made his tournament debut at the Euros last week. 

"My grandfather asked one of his grandchildren to wear the Ghana shirt, and my brother told me it was right for it to be him," Nico said. "He said, 'You play for Spain.' It was a family decision."

It remained a family decision, right up to Nico's stellar performance against Italy.

"This win is for him [Inaki] too," Nico said. "For my parents, for all the Williamses."

Nico and Spain have qualified for the knockout rounds at the European Championships. They will continue their journey against Albania on Monday.