Nico Williams Gives World Cup Medal to His Mom Who Walked from Ghana to Spain While Pregnant

Spain star Nico Williams handed his World Cup winner's medal to his mother following Sunday's 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final.

Once the medal ceremony concluded, Williams walked toward his mother in her front-row seat at MetLife Stadium:

In a 2021 interview with Sid Lowe of the Guardian, Nico's older brother Iñaki recounted how their parents traveled to Spain from Ghana while their mother was pregnant with Iñaki.

"Details like: I didn't know they had crossed the desert by foot," he said. "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."

The Williamses initially arrived in Melilla, Spain, before moving to Pamplona and then settling in Bilbao. Iñaki told Lowe he hadn't heard the full story until he was 20 years old and featuring as a senior player for Athletic Club.

Iñaki, who represents Ghana at the international level, has gone on to become an Athletic legend. His 510 appearances are the fifth-most in club history.

Nico, meanwhile, now has victories in the 2026 World Cup and Euro 2024 with Spain to complement the Copa del Rey he won with Athletic in 2023-24.

"I have a history I started to write seven years ago; he has to write his own," Iñaki said to Lowe almost five years ago. "We're living this together, I'm proud of him and he's doing very well, progressing fast, but he still has a lot, a lot, to prove and a lot, a lot, of work ahead. Let him be, let him grow, let him earn whatever comes."

It's safe to say Nico has done just that.