Toni Kroos

Toni Kroos
Kroos with Real Madrid in 2018
Personal information
Full name Toni Kroos[1]
Date of birth (1990-01-04) 4 January 1990 (age 34)[2]
Place of birth Greifswald, East Germany
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1997–2002 Greifswalder SC
2002–2006 Hansa Rostock
2006–2007 Bayern Munich
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Bayern Munich II 13 (4)
2007–2014 Bayern Munich 130 (13)
2009–2010 → Bayer Leverkusen (loan) 43 (10)
2014–2024 Real Madrid 306 (22)
Total 492 (49)
International career
2005–2007 Germany U17 34 (17)
2009 Germany U19 5 (3)
2008–2009 Germany U21 10 (2)
2010–2024 Germany 114 (17)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Germany
FIFA World Cup
Winner 2014 Brazil
Third place 2010 South Africa
UEFA European Championship
Third place 2012 Poland-Ukraine
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German former professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, he was known for his vision, passing, crossing and set-piece ability.[note 1] Kroos played mainly as a central midfielder, but was also deployed as a defensive and, on occasions, attacking midfielder throughout his career. With 34 titles won throughout a career spanning 17 years, Kroos is also the most decorated German football player.[11]

Kroos began his senior club career playing for Bayern Munich, where he made his debut at age 17 in 2007. He was sparingly used, and opted for an 18-month loan spell at fellow Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen, where he became a key contributor, and returned to his parent club with an increased profile in 2010. With Bayern, Kroos won two consecutive league titles (three titles in total), a UEFA Champions League title, two DFB-Pokal titles, and was voted into the league team of the season three times. In 2014, he joined Real Madrid in a transfer worth €25 million.[12]

In Madrid, Kroos earned twenty-one trophies, including four La Liga titles and five UEFA Champions League titles, three of which he won consecutively from 2016 to 2018, each time being selected in the competition's team of the season. He was selected in the FIFA FIFPRO World 11 and UEFA Team of the Year three times each, and the league's team of the season twice.[13][14] He was voted the IFFHS World's Best Playmaker in 2014 and German Footballer of the Year in 2018.

Kroos won Golden Player at the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and Golden Ball at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his senior debut for Germany in 2010, at age 20, and appeared in seven major tournaments. With 114 international matches for the senior team, Kroos is in the top ten of Germany's most capped players. Kroos helped Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he was top assist provider and voted to the All-Star Team, Dream Team, and German Player of the Year. At UEFA Euro 2016, he was selected to the Team of the Tournament. In 2024, Kroos retired from professional football.[15]

  1. ^ "Acta del Partido celebrado el 21 de septiembre de 2016, en Madrid" [Minutes of the Match held on 21 September 2016, in Madrid] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 15 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  2. ^ "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018: List of Players: Germany" (PDF). FIFA. 15 July 2018. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Kroos". Real Madrid CF. Archived from the original on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. ^ "The Best Deep-Lying Playmakers of All Time". 90min. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 11 August 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Toni Kroos: The German Passing Master Who Conquered Europe". 90min. 17 June 2020. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  6. ^ Shah, Parshiva (1 June 2022). "A stat that proves Toni Kroos is the greatest passer in Champions League history". The Real Champs. Archived from the original on 7 June 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Wilson was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scholes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ S, Sai Siddhartha (27 November 2021). "Real Madrid: Where does Toni Kroos rank among the best midfielders in history?". The Real Champs. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  10. ^ Ryan, Danny (3 August 2022). "Barcelona, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Santos: The greatest XIs in history". GiveMeSport. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Toni Kroos kann in Wembley seinen 34. Profititel gewinnen – deutscher Rekord". Sky Sport. Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Toni Kroos joins Real Madrid from Bayern Munich for £20m". The Guardian. 17 July 2014. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Kroos becomes first German player to win five champions leagues". DFB. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Kroos becomes Club World Cup's most decorated player". Real Madrid CF. 22 December 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  15. ^ Sanderson, Tom. "Real Madrid Legend Toni Kroos Reveals Why He Decided To Retire". Forbes. Archived from the original on 1 June 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2024.


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