Toni Kroos is a German professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Real Madrid at club level, as well as the German national team.

Previously, Kroos played for Bayern Munich and enjoyed a loan stint at Bayer Leverkusen. He was on the books of Greifswalder SC and Hansa Rostock before joining Bayern.

Kroos has made a name for himself as one of the most talented and decorated midfielders in the world. As a three-time Bundesliga winner, Kroos has also won the DFB-Pokal in 2012/13 and 2013/14 and the UEFA Champions League in 2012/13 while on the books of Bayern.

After moving to Real Madrid, Kroos won three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles in 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017/18. He has also lifted La Liga in 2016/17 and 2019/20 and was part of the Germany side which won the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil under the guidance of Joachim Low.

Emerging At Bayern Munich

Kroos joined Bayern’s youth set-up in 2006 and broke through to the first team during the 2007/08 campaign.

He made his debut against Energie Cottbus in a 5-0 win for Bayern, picking up two assists for Miroslav Klose within the space of 18 minutes. At 17 years old, he was the youngest player to feature for Bayern Munich in a professional match, although that record has since been broken by David Alaba.

Kroos scored once in 20 appearances for the first team in the 2007/08 season as Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga.

Due to limited opportunities in the 2008/09 campaign, Kroos went on loan to Bayer Leverkusen. After a successful stint there, he eventually returned to Bayern for the 2010/11 campaign.

Bayern momentarily lost their domestic dominance to Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund side, who went on to win two successive Bundesliga titles. But Bayern reasserted their control under Jupp Heynckes.

The 2012 UEFA Champions League final defeat to Chelsea at the Allianz Arena preceded an era of tremendous success for Kroos and Bayern.

In the 2012/13 campaign, Heynckes’ men beat Dortmund to the Bundesliga title. They beat VfB Stuttgart in the final of the DFB-Pokal and saw off Dortmund 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League final, avenging the previous season’s defeat to Chelsea.

Pep Guardiola took over from Jupp Heynckes the following season, and he maintained Bayern’s success, winning both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal.

At the end of the 2013/14 campaign, Kroos moved on to Real Madrid.

Becoming A Galactico

“We are talking about the two biggest teams in the world,” he told Bild when asked to compare Real Madrid with Bayern Munich shortly after moving from the latter to the former. “However, I think that overall Real Madrid are one step ahead.

“I remember my presentation with Real Madrid where 20,000 people turned up despite me not having played a minute. In Germany that is unthinkable.

“Guardiola had nothing to do with my departure. I understand football just like him, he fine tuned my game and helped me improve as a player.

“My signing has been 100 percent about success and I’m happy at Real Madrid.”

The 2014/15 season saw Real Madrid narrowly miss out on the La Liga title despite a hugely impressive start. Ultimately, Barcelona won the treble – the Champions League, Copa del Rey and La Liga.

Real Madrid were beaten by Juventus in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League thanks to a star performance from Juventus’ Alvaro Morata – formerly of Real Madrid (and a future teammate of Kroos upon Morata’s subsequent return to the Bernabeu).

Real Madrid did, however, win the Club World Cup in 2014.

The 2015/16 season was a better one for Los Blancos as they won the UEFA Champions League title after Zinedine Zidane replaced Rafael Benitez as manager mid-season.

In 2016/17, Real Madrid not only defended their UEFA Champions League title, but also won La Liga and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The 2017/18 season started off with a 5-1 drubbing of Barcelona in the Supercopa de Espana, albeit over two legs. However, Real Madrid struggled to keep pace with Barca in La Liga even after the departure of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

Nevertheless, Real Madrid managed to win the UEFA Champions League for the third time running, beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Kiev.

The 2018/19 season ended in disappointment for Real Madrid after only winning the FIFA Club World Cup, but they bounced back by winning La Liga in 2019/20.

In 2020/21, Madrid finished second to rivals Atletico in La Liga. He did score his first El Clasico goal, though – a free kick that proved to be the winner in a 2-1 win over Barcelona.

German National Team And World Cup Success

Kroos was awarded the Golden Ball for being the best player at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He made his breakthrough in the U-21 national side the following year, although he missed out on the Germany U-21 squad which won Euro 2009.

Kroos was rewarded for his patience the following year as he made his breakthrough in the senior German national team. He travelled to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and played his part on the pitch in a Germany side which finished the tournament in third place.

He became a regular starter for the national team during qualification for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine as Germany won all 10 of their qualification group fixtures. Once again, Germany ultimately bowed out at the semi-finals of the tournament, with Low’s decision to utilise Kroos to man-mark Andrea Pirlo in their defeat to Italy heavily criticised.

Kroos and Germany finally went all the way at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He scored twice in the iconic 7-1 win over the host nation in the semi-finals and was shortlisted for the Golden Ball award.

Kroos is regarded as the only player from what was the German Democratic Republic to ever win the World Cup.

He continued to be a major part of the German national team going into Euro 2020, which was delayed until the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After playing all of Germany’s games in the group stage of the tournament, his final game came at Wembley in a 2-0 defeat to England in the round of 16.

It was his 106th and final cap, with him announcing his retirement from international football in the days that followed Germany’s exit.

Personal Life

Kroos reportedly married Jessica Farber on June 13, 2015 and has two sons – Leon and Fin, as well as a daughter, Amelie.

His younger brother, Felix Kroos, also plays soccer, and his father, Roland, gained publicity for his work as a youth coach at Hansa Rostock.

As a youngster, Kroos reportedly missed a lot of school while practicing soccer and was a poor student, although well-liked.

Net Worth

According to Salary Sport, Kroos earns an annual salary of £17,108,000 at Real Madrid as of 2021.