Inaki Williams’ La Liga record run of 251 consecutive games for Athletic Bilbao has come to an end after the Ghanaian forward picked up a rare injury.
The 28-year-old was forced to sit out his side’s 1-0 defeat at Celta on Sunday having been forced off through injury in the 88th minute of the 3-1 Copa del Rey victory at Valencia last Thursday.
Williams’ run of games began when he came off the bench in the second half of a 1-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid in 2016 in which former Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres scored the only goal.
The northern Spanish club confirmed in a tweet: “(Williams) had not missed a match since April 20, 2016. Yesterday (Sunday) he was unable to play against Celta due to muscle overload.”
Williams made one appearance for the Spanish senior team in a friendly against Bosnia in 2016 with his last appearances coming at the Euro Under-21 Championships in 2017.
The Bilbao-born player sealed a 3-1 victory against rivals Portugal in the group stage but Spain were eventually defeated by Germany in the final with Williams coming on as a second half substitute.
Having failed to win a further call up to the Spanish senior squad, Williams switched allegiances to the country of his parents, Ghana, ahead of the Qatar World Cup making his debut in a 3-0 friendly defeat by Brazil in September 2022.
Williams started all three matches in Qatar but failed to score as Ghana were eliminated at the group stage following 2-0 defeat by Uruguay.
???? Iñaki Williams fija en 2⃣5⃣1⃣ partidos consecutivos el récord de participación en @LaLiga
No se había perdido un encuentro desde el 20 de abril de 2016. Ayer no pudo jugar ante el @rccelta por una sobrecarga muscular.
✊???? Egurre, @Williaaams45! #AthleticClub ???? pic.twitter.com/wqYADi0NrO
— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) January 30, 2023
