‘I would like to play against my brother – him for Ghana and me for Spain. My parents would have a heart attack because they wouldn’t know who to go with!’ Nico Williams hoping to live out his World Cup dream this summer

Spain will head to North America this summer as European champions and one of the favourites to win the World Cup.

Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams emerged as one of La Roja’s key players during their run to the Euro 2024 title and the 23-year-old is dreaming big ahead of his first World Cup.

Like the rest of his team-mates, he has the dream of hoisting up the World Cup trophy in New Jersey in July, but he also has a more personal goal this summer.

Nico Williams on coming up against his brother

“We have a very important challenge, and I hope to win the World Cup,” Nico tells FourFourTwo, making no secret of his ambition. “I think we’re going to win the World Cup with the team we have.

“There are world-class players who are going to help us. We have big rivals like France, England and Argentina, who are very tough, but I have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We’re going to try to go step-by-step. Winning the World Cup would be the icing on the cake.”

Nico’s other ambition this summer concerns his elder brother, Inaki, who pledged his international allegiance to Ghana, birthplace of the siblings’ parents in 2022 and has win 25 caps for the Black Stars.

There’s a small chance that the pair could play against each other this summer, a scenario the club team-mates have never faced before and may never have the chance to do again.

Spain play group games against Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay – if they win Group H and Ghana can finish second in England’s group, it would put Nico and Inaki on a collision course in the last 16, if they both make it through their matches in the first knockout round.

“I don’t know if we’ll be able to meet at some point, but I would like to play against my brother – him for Ghana and me for Spain,” says Nico, who has 30 international caps himself.

“It would be a very nice duel – I think my parents would have a heart attack because they wouldn’t know who to go with!

“I hope I can play against him and win, although he’s going to score five goals if we do meet each other.

“My brother knows all about the team we have – Ghana are also a good team. I hope we can cross paths – if we do, we’ll win, for sure!”

Spain begin their World Cup with a June 15 clash against Cape Verde, while Ghana kick off against Panama three days later.