Athletic Bilbao striker, Inaki Williams has the opportunity to debut at the 2022 World Cup. In this event, Inaki switched allegiance from Spain to one of the African countries of Ghana, where his parents came from.
The 28-year-old player was born in Bilbao to Ghanaian parents and Inaki has already made one cap for the Spain senior team, appearing in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2016. Previously, the phenomenon of changing nationality was common among footballers. The same thing has happened to Diego Costa, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, to Jack Grealish.
"It's beautiful to play for Spain. I have lived in Spain all my life, but I have not forgotten Ghana. Ghana is special to me because my family and parents are here, my blood is here, so I don't forget the Ghanaian people." he said as reported by FIFA.
Inaki Williams' career in football is extraordinary and unique. With an immigrant background, Inaki actually recorded extraordinary records with the club he defended, Athletic Bilbao.
Bilbao Athletic Academy Products
Inaki Williams is a native player raised by Athletic Bilbao. He entered the academy of his hometown club in 2012. After a season spent at Athletic Bilbao B who played in the Segunda Division, Williams was able to penetrate the Los Leones main squad in the 2014-2015 season.
In his debut season in La Liga, he appeared in 19 games and scored one goal. Inaki Williams locks up a place in Athletic Bilbao's first team starting the 2016-17 season. That season, he scored eight goals in 49 appearances in all competitions.
Since then, the player who is known to have never missed playing in several seasons of the competition has then transformed into an important player in the Los Leones squad. This season, Inaki Williams has collected nine appearances in the Spanish League with a collection of three goals.
Never Stop Playing For The Last 6 Seasons
Then Inaki Williams' impressive record while strengthening Los Leones is that she has never missed playing in La Liga in the last six years. Reporting from the Transfermarkt page, the sibling of Nico Williams last missed playing for Athletic Bilbao on April 17, 2016.
At that time, Bilbao visited Malaga in the 2015/16 La Liga season continued match. Inaki Williams has been ruled out due to a thigh problem. After that, he never missed defending Los Leones.
Inaki already holds the record for playing the most consecutive La Liga games with 203 matches since October 2021. He beat Juan Antonio Larranaga as the previous record holder with a record of 202 matches.
Choosing the Ghana National Team
Then, despite playing for the Spain U-21 national team and making one appearance with the senior team La Furia Roja, Inaki officially changed his nationality to Ghana.
The Black Stars offer more promising opportunities for Inaki than being ignored by Spain altogether. Moreover, Otto Addo's team took part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar this year. Ghana are in a difficult group, as they will face Portugal, South Korea and Uruguay for a place in the knockout stages.
With his consistent performance so far with Bilbao, it is not impossible that he will be brought by Otto Addo to Qatar to feel the atmosphere of competing in the biggest competition between countries in the world.
Inaki Williams has recorded one cap with the Ghana national team. He won the caps when The Black Stars faced Brazil in a friendly match.