Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time,[4][5][6][7] Kroos plays mainly as a central midfielder, but has also been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker in his career. He is known for his vision, passing, creativity, crossing and set-piece ability.[8][9][10]
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.[11]
In Madrid, Kroos won sixteen trophies, including three La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League titles, three of which he won consecutively from 2016 and 2018, each time being selected in the competition's team of the season. He has been selected in the FIFPro World11 and UEFA Team of the Year three times, and the league's team of the season twice.[12][13] 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, where he also finished as top goalscorer, and won the 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 five major tournaments. 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. He announced his international retirement after his team's elimination from Euro 2020 in 2021.
Club career
Early career
Kroos first played for local club Greifswalder SC, later transferring to the youth team of Hansa Rostock. Kroos moved to Bayern Munich's youth setup in 2006. Kroos was missing up to 40 days during the school year due to training.[14]
For the 2007–08 season, at the age of 17, Kroos was promoted to Bayern's senior team. He made an astounding start to his Bundesliga career, making his debut for Bayern on 26 September 2007 in a 5–0 defeat of Energie Cottbus and twice assisting Miroslav Klose goals within 18 minutes of his appearance as a substitute.[15] At the time of his debut, Kroos was the youngest player ever to represent Bayern in a professional match at 17 years, 265 days old, a record since broken by David Alaba in 2010.[citation needed]
On 25 October, Kroos earned Bayern a valuable victory away to Red Star Belgrade on his UEFA Cup debut, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute and providing an assist for Miroslav Klose and then scoring the winning goal, his first for the club, in stoppage time.[16] He made his first start for the club in a 3–1 defeat away at VfB Stuttgart.[citation needed]
Kroos ended his first season with 20 appearances for Bayern, including six starts. He also scored three goals in 12 appearances for Bayern Munich II in the Regionalliga Süd.[citation needed]
Despite being selected to start in Bayern's opening 2008–09 Bundesliga match against Hamburger SV, Kroos appeared less frequently for die Roten during the first half of the 2008–09 season. On 5 November 2008, however, he made his UEFA Champions League debut as a 79th-minute substitute against Fiorentina in matchday four of the group stage.[17]
Loan at Bayer Leverkusen
On 31 January 2009, Bayern allowed Kroos to join Bayer Leverkusen on an 18-month loan to gain first team experience.[18] He made his debut on 28 February as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat against Hannover 96. On 12 April, he made his first Bundesliga start for Leverkusen, assisting the team's goal in a 1–1 draw with Werder Bremen. On 18 April 2009, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 2–1 loss to VfL Wolfsburg.[citation needed]
On 30 May, Kroos appeared as a late substitute in the 2009 DFB-Pokal Final against Werder Bremen, where Leverkusen were beaten 1–0 by a Mesut Özil goal.[19]
During the 2008–09 season, Kroos made 13 appearances for Leverkusen in all competitions, scoring once.[citation needed]
Kroos established himself as a regular in the Leverkusen team in 2009–10, appearing all but one of Bayer's Bundesliga matches. Between matchdays 16 and 20, Kroos registered five goals and four assists in five Bundesliga matches, earning him back-to-back "player of the month" awards from kicker for December 2009 and January 2010.[20]
He ended the season with nine goals and 12 assists from 33 matches.[citation needed]
Bayern Munich
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In the summer of 2010, on the expiration of his loan at Bayer Leverkusen, Kroos returned to Bayern Munich. When asked about his first team chances with Bayern, runner-up in the previous season's Champions League, Kroos stated, "I want to play as often as possible!"[21]
On 16 August 2010, he started against Germania Windeck in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, scoring the third goal in a 4–0 victory. On 29 October 2010, he scored his first league goal for the club, in a 4–1 win for the Bavarians against SC Freiburg. During the 2010–11 season, Kroos was a regular starter for Bayern in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League. He ended the season with 37 appearances in all competitions.[citation needed]
During 2011–12, under Jupp Heynckes, his former coach at Leverkusen, Kroos established himself as a first choice player from Bayern, forming a strong midfield partnership with national team colleague Bastian Schweinsteiger. He played 51 matches in all competitions during the season, including the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, where Bayern were beaten on penalties by Chelsea at the Allianz Arena.[citation needed]
Kroos was an important member of Bayern's treble-winning team during the 2012–13 season. As the most advanced member of a midfield containing Schweinsteiger and Javi Martínez, Kroos scored three goals in the team's opening four Bundesliga matches. He also scored his first Champions League goal in Bayern's opening group match against Valencia. After sustaining an injury in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Juventus,[22] Kroos was unavailable for the remainder of the season, missing Bayern's successes in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final, the 2013 DFB-Pokal Final and the last seven matches of the Bundesliga season.[citation needed]
Kroos returned to fitness for the start of the 2013–14 season and, played in the German Super Cup[23] and the UEFA Super Cup.[24] On 4 October 2013, scored his first goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against former club Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga. He started two matches for Bayern in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.[25] The first against Guangzhou Evergrande in the 3–0 semi-final win on 17 December 2013,[26] and in the final as the team beat Raja Casablanca 2–0.[27][28]
On 19 February 2014, Kroos scored his second goal of the season in a 2–0 Champions League win against Arsenal.[29] On 25 March, he scored in a 3–1 win over Hertha BSC as Bayern were confirmed as Bundesliga champions.[30]
Real Madrid
2014–15: Debut season
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Prior to joining Real Madrid, Kroos had a deal in place to join Manchester United after agreeing terms with David Moyes. However, after Moyes was sacked and Louis van Gaal replaced him, the Dutch manager decided against signing Kroos. Around the time of the 2014 World Cup he received a call from Carlo Ancelotti.[31]
On 17 July 2014, Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Kroos, signing a six-year deal for an undisclosed fee.[32][33][34][35] The press reported that Kroos had cost between €24 and €30 million.[32][36][37][34][38][39] Greifswalder SV 04, the successor to his first youth team, received €60,000 from the transfer.[40]
Kroos became the ninth German player, after Günter Netzer, Paul Breitner, Uli Stielike, Bernd Schuster, Bodo Illgner, Christoph Metzelder, Mesut Özil, and Sami Khedira, to join Real Madrid.[41] At his presentation in front of 8,000 supporters, he stated how Real Madrid is the "biggest club in the world" and is a "cut above Bayern".[42][43] He played in his debut match against Sevilla in the 2014 UEFA Super Cup on 12 August 2014, winning his first trophy at Real Madrid.[44][45]
He was part of a midfield trio with James Rodríguez and Luka Modrić that led Real Madrid to 22-game winning run late in the year. On 8 November, Kroos scored his first goal for Real Madrid in a 5–1 win over Rayo Vallecano, at home.[46] In December, he helped the team win the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup, leading the tournament in assists. He was named to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.[citation needed]
2015–19: Sustained domestic success and European dominance
In 2015, Ancelotti was replaced by Rafa Benítez in Madrid's command. Benítez was replaced in the middle of the season by Zinedine Zidane, under whom Kroos continued to be a key midfield player. Zidane said "We signed Toni because we want him to mark an era" and called Kroos "perfect for Madrid".[47] He was a regular starter when the team won the 2015–16 Champions League, his second Champions League trophy.[48] Los Blancos' triumph at San Siro meant that Kroos became the first-ever German to lift the Champions League trophy with two clubs.[49]
In 2016, Kroos became a part of a collaboration between the German Football Association and The LEGO Group, who in May released a Europe-exclusive collectible minifigure series, with Kroos featured as the tenth of sixteen minifigures in the collection.[50] On 12 October 2016, he signed a new contract until 2022, and by the end of the year he was once again nominated to the FIFPro World XI and the UEFA Team of the Year.[51] He scored the winning goal for Real Madrid in the 81-minute of the game against Celta Vigo as Real Madrid won their first home game of the La Liga season by 2–1.[52]
He was a regular starter when Madrid won the 2016–17 La Liga and later defended their title in the 2016–17 Champions League. He became the first German player to win the trophy three times.[53][54][55] At the end of 2016–17, Kroos was the most used player under Zidane.[56]
During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he made twelve appearances, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title.[57]
2019–present: Return of Zidane and Ancelotti, record sixth FIFA Club World Cup title & contract renewal
On 22 December 2018, Kroos won his record fifth FIFA Club World Cup after his team defeated Al Ain FC with a 4–1 margin in the final.[13] On 20 May 2019, he extended his contract with the club until 2023.[58][59]
On 17 August 2019, Kroos opened his goal account for the campaign in the La Liga season opener against Celta Vigo at Balaídos in a 3–1 win with a long range effort.[60] On 22 October 2019, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Galatasaray in his 100th appearance in the Champions League.[61]
On 8 January 2020, Kroos scored his first Supercopa goal directly from a corner kick against Valencia in the 2019–20 Supercopa de España Semi-final in Jeddah as Los Blancos won 3–1.[62] Three days later, Real Madrid won the Supercopa after beating the local rivals Atlético Madrid on penalties.[63] On 16 February, Kroos again scored against Celta Vigo, this time at the Bernabeu in a 2–2 league draw.[64] This was his sixth goal against the Galician club, meaning he had scored against them more than any other team in his career.[citation needed]
On 16 June, when La Liga restarted after a three-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kroos scored Real Madrid's first official goal at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in just four minutes in an eventual 3–1 win over Eibar.[65] One month later, Real Madrid went on a 10 game winning run and won the 2019–20 La Liga with Kroos featuring in all 11 matches post lockdown.[66] On 8 August, Kroos' season came to an end as City eliminated Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16 (4–2 on aggregate).[67] Despite a disappointing end to the season, this was Kroos' most prolific season in White netting six goals across all competitions.
On 10 April 2021, Kroos scored his first El Clásico goal against Barcelona which came from a free-kick in the 28th minute at the Di Stefano Stadium which proved to be the winner in a vital 2–1 league win to send Los Blancos to the top of the league. This was Kroos' first free kick goal for Real Madrid in just his sixth attempt.[68] In the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, Kroos won his fifth title in the competition, scoring two goals in twelve appearances.[69]
On 10 August 2022, Kroos started the 2022–23 season by winning his fourth UEFA Super Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt.[70] This match would prove to be significant because it was the last time the famous trio commonly known by fans as KCM (Kroos, Casemiro and Modrić) would start a match together. Casemiro would move on to Manchester United a week later.[71]
On the first matchday of the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League season, Kroos received the UEFA Man of the Match for his performance against Celtic at Celtic Park.[72]
On 11 September 2022, Kroos captained Real Madrid for the first time in a 4–1 home win against RCD Mallorca after club captain Karim Benzema had been injured and the reserve captains (Nacho and Modrić) started on the bench.[73] On 16 October, he played his 250th La Liga match in a 3–1 El Clásico win over Barcelona.[74] On 30 October, Kroos received the first red card of his professional career in a 1–1 home draw against Girona after he received a second yellow card for a foul on Aleix García.[75]
On 11 February 2023, Kroos broke his own record by gaining his sixth FIFA Club World Cup title, one with Bayern Munich and five with Real Madrid.[76]
On 21 June 2023, Kroos extended his contract with Real Madrid for one more year, keeping him till June 2024.[77][78][79]
International career
Youth teams
In the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup, Toni Kroos was awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player and also won the Bronze Shoe after scoring five goals.[80] Kroos' debut for the national U-21 team came on 5 September 2008 in a 2009 Euro U-21 Championship Qualifier against Northern Ireland and scored the opening goal in the 11th minute,[81] his second goal for the U-21 side was goal in Germany's 1–0 win over Italy, a precise long-range shot in the angle. It came as a surprise that coach Horst Hrubesch left him out of Germany's U-21 squad for Euro 2009, and Germany went on to win the tournament without him.[82]