The best players in the world miss penalties. You dust yourself off.
In the aftermath of a missed penalty that kept Wales from the World Cup, Neco Williams speaks not as a man seeking absolution but as one learning to carry weight forward. The 25-year-old defender's moment of failure in a playoff shootout against Bosnia-Herzegovina has become, in the months since, a quiet reckoning with what sport demands of those who play it at its highest level. Wales now turns toward 2028, toward a European Championship on home soil, and toward the slower, harder work of rebuilding belief — not erasing the past, but refusing to be defined by it.
- A missed penalty in a shootout still haunts Williams in the present tense — this is not a wound that has closed, and he does not pretend otherwise.
- Wales, who had genuine belief they could have advanced deep into a summer World Cup in America, must now watch that tournament without them.
- The squad's response to the shootout loss revealed something about its character — Dan James, who had missed a crucial penalty himself two years prior, was the first to reach Williams after the final kick.
- Friendlies against Ghana and Romania this week mark the first deliberate steps away from grief and toward a new target: co-hosting the 2028 European Championships.
- Manager Craig Bellamy's vision is still taking shape, with Nations League matches against Portugal, Denmark, and Norway serving as the next proving ground for a squad in transition.
- Williams is asking fans — and himself — for patience, framing the road to 2028 as a matter of faith earned through continued commitment rather than guaranteed by past promise.
Neco Williams has not stopped feeling the weight of a missed penalty. In a playoff shootout against Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Nottingham Forest defender's miss — compounded by other failures and a ninety-sixth minute equalizer from Edin Dzeko — ended Wales' hopes of reaching this summer's World Cup in America. For a squad that had finished runners-up to Belgium in qualifying and carried genuine belief in their ability to compete on football's largest stage, the loss was not merely disappointing. It was the kind of thing that stays.
What softened the blow, at least partially, was the response of those around him. Dan James — who had himself missed a decisive penalty two years earlier, ending Wales' Euro 2024 qualification — was the first to approach Williams after the shootout. It was a small act that said something larger about the squad's character: no one would be left to carry the failure alone.
But the immediate work is not about looking back. Friendlies against Ghana and Romania mark the beginning of a new chapter, one pointed toward the 2028 European Championships, which Wales will co-host alongside England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland. The image of walking out at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff before a home crowd is what Williams says pulls him forward. Before then, Nations League fixtures against Portugal, Denmark, and Norway will test the squad under manager Craig Bellamy, whose vision for the team is still being embedded.
Williams is asking fans for patience — and offering, in return, a promise that the good times will come. It is the kind of faith that only someone who has stood at the edge of failure, and chosen to keep going, can credibly offer.
Neco Williams sits with the weight of a moment that will not leave him. It was a penalty kick in a playoff semi-final against Bosnia-Herzegovina—the kind of moment that defines careers, that players carry for years. He missed it. Wales missed the World Cup because of it, and because of other misses in that shootout, and because Edin Dzeko equalized Dan James' early goal in the ninety-sixth minute. The 25-year-old Nottingham Forest defender still feels it. When he speaks about missing out on this summer's tournament in America, the hurt is present tense, not past.
Wales had been favored to beat Bosnia at home and advance to a winner-takes-all match against Italy in Cardiff. The squad had finished runners-up to Belgium in their qualifying group. There was a genuine belief—not hope, but belief—that they could have made noise on football's largest stage. Williams carries that conviction like a stone. "I feel if we had got there, we would have given it a real go," he told BBC Sport Wales. "We would have had a good chance of going far." But they didn't get there. This would have been Wales' second consecutive World Cup appearance, and now it is gone.
What struck Williams most, in the aftermath, was the response of his teammates. Dan James, who had missed a penalty two years earlier that ended Wales' Euro 2024 qualification hopes, was the first to approach him after the shootout. It was a small gesture that spoke to something larger about the squad's character—a refusal to let one player carry the blame alone. Williams acknowledged that instinct to withdraw, to disappear after such a failure. "When something like that happens, you don't want to speak to anyone or be seen," he said. But the group around him made that impossible in the best way. They pulled him back in.
Yet the immediate future is not about dwelling. This week brought friendlies against Ghana and Romania, positioned as the first steps toward something else entirely: the 2028 European Championships, which Wales will co-host alongside England, Scotland, and the Republic of Ireland. The prospect of playing at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, of walking out onto that pitch in front of home supporters, is the thing that moves Williams forward. "Two years will fly," he said, "and picturing walking out at the stadium is unbelievable—they're the moments you want in football."
Before then comes the Nations League in autumn, with matches against Portugal, Denmark, and Norway—tests against elite opposition under manager Craig Bellamy, who has already begun reshaping the team since his arrival. Williams sees the work still unfolding, the potential not yet fully realized. Bellamy has been the subject of interest from other clubs, but Williams believes his manager has more to give this squad, more time needed to embed his vision. The Nations League will be a proving ground. The Euros will be the destination.
What Williams is asking of the fans, and perhaps of himself, is patience. The disappointment of missing America is real and will linger. But the road does not end there. It bends toward home, toward a tournament Wales will host, toward redemption of a different kind. "The fans have got to stick with us, believe in us as players and the manager," Williams said, "and the good times will come." It is a statement of faith from someone who has earned the right to doubt.
Citas Notables
I feel if we had got there, we would have given it a real go. We would have had a good chance of going far.— Neco Williams on Wales' World Cup prospects
The fans have got to stick with us, believe in us as players and the manager and the good times will come.— Neco Williams on the path forward
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
You missed a penalty in a shootout that cost Wales the World Cup. How do you move past something like that?
You don't, really. Not completely. But your teammates won't let you carry it alone. Dan James came straight to me after—the same Dan James who missed a penalty that cost us Euro qualification two years before. That matters. It tells you something about who you're with.
So the pain stays, but the isolation doesn't.
Exactly. When it first happens, you want to disappear. You don't want to be seen. But this group pulls you back. They remind you that the best players in the world miss penalties. You dust yourself off and focus on what's next.
And what is next? The World Cup is gone.
The Euros in 2028. We're hosting it. Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland. And we play at home—the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. That's the moment I picture. That's what gets you moving forward.
Two years is a long time to hold onto a vision like that.
It will fly. And in the meantime, there's the Nations League, there's the work Bellamy is doing with us. He's changed things already, but he needs time. We need time. The good times will come if people believe.