Spain star suffers ‘one of the worst days’ of his life as he is ruled out of World Cup after ‘unnecessary challenge’

Spain progressed to the knockout stage of the World Cup, topping Group H after their 1-0 victory over Uruguay; however, they will be without one of their stars for the rest of the competition.

Luis de la Fuente’s side entered the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy following their victorious European Championship campaign in 2024.

Yet, La Roja have slowly built into the World Cup due to their squad not being fully fit at the time of commencement when Mexico beat South Africa.

Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams were injury doubts ahead of the competition but were deemed fit enough to finish their recovery and be part of the squad for the tournament.

However, Williams’ World Cup is now over after he suffered another injury in the victory over Uruguay, with the Athletic Bilbao star taking to social media to post an emotional statement to announce he will play no further part in the tournament.

The 23-year-old said: “Today is one of the worst days of my life. I’ve gotten injured again after a very tough year, one in which the pubic symphysis pain won many battles against me, but not the war. I managed to overcome it with hard work, sacrifice, and above all, responsibility.

“It was a year and a half of suffering, sadness, uncertainty, and anxiety. I didn’t know when I’d be able to play without pain again or when I’d get back to a normal life. I even got to the point of living with the pain in things as simple as going to the bathroom, getting in and out of the car, or just enjoying day-to-day life.

“Yesterday, I was caused a new injury after an action in which a fellow professional acted out of frustration, discontent, and sadness over the situation he was going through. It was a play that, in my opinion, could have been avoided because it was completely unnecessary.”

Hoy es uno de los peores días de mi vida. Vuelvo a lesionarme después de un año muy complicado, en el que la pubalgia me ganó muchas batallas, pero no la guerra. Conseguí superarla con trabajo, sacrificio y, sobre todo, responsabilidad.

Fue un año y medio de sufrimiento,… pic.twitter.com/6gCMHhJLzk

— Nicolas Williams (@willliamsssnico) June 27, 2026

Williams and Spain have not confirmed which challenge has caused the fresh injury; however, late in the victory over Uruguay, there was a challenge from Nicolás de la Cruz on him which sparked confrontations between the two sides.

While the Spanish international is disappointed to have suffered a new injury and to be ruled out of the competition, he has responded defiantly that he will be back again.

Williams said: “But this won’t stop me either. I know God has a plan for me, and I’ll keep fighting until the very last moment to get back to doing what I love most: playing soccer, being happy, and bringing joy to many.

“From the bottom of my heart, thank you all for your messages of support.

“The story isn’t over—we’ll see each other as soon as possible in this World Cup.”