A world champion and five-time Champions League winner Toni Kroos is eyeing two more major trophies after announcing on Tuesday he will retire after Euro 2024. Kroos, who had stepped down from international duty after Germany’s last-16 Euros exit to England in 2021, answered a call from manager Julian Nagelsmann to return to the international setup in February. This summer’s European Championship, which kicks off on June 14 when Germany face Scotland in Munich, will be the last time the 2014 World Cup winner takes the field competitively.
At club level, the 34-year-old will play one final match for Real Madrid in front of the club’s home fans, on Saturday against Real Betis, with the La Liga title already in the bag. Kroos will then face Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final on June 1. In announcing his retirement on the podcast he co-presents with his brother Felix, he said his “huge goal” was to “win that one at Wembley”.
Victory would mean a sixth Champions League trophy, equalling the record set by Real Madrid winger Paco Gento in 1966, the latest title in a glittering career for the man from the town on the Baltic Sea coast. Born in Greifswald, then part of East Germany, in 1990, Kroos joined Bayern’s youth setup from Hansa Rostock aged 16 and was promoted to the seniors just one year later.
Kroos became Bayern’s youngest ever professional player when he made his debut aged 17 years and 265 days, laying on an assist for Miroslav Klose just 18 minutes after coming on. In Bayern’s treble-winning season in 2012-13, Kroos was a cornerstone of a midfield featuring Germany teammate Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez.
The midfielder stayed for another season in the Bavarian capital after coach Pep Guardiola’s arrival but left at the end of the campaign after Bayern reportedly refused to meet his salary demands. He was close to a move to Manchester United under then manager David Moyes but the deal fell through when the Scotsman was replaced by Louis van Gaal.
The midfielder instead moved to Real Madrid where he won four Champions Leagues, including three in a row from 2016-2018, along with an array of domestic league titles and cups. Bayern powerbroker Uli Hoeness later admitted his regret at letting Kroos leave, saying “a club needs to make difficult decisions sometimes. That was a hard one, and maybe the wrong one.”
Kroos made his Germany debut in 2010 in a 1-0 loss in a friendly against Argentina and came off the bench regularly in that year’s World Cup run to a third-place finish. Having quickly established himself in midfield, he played every minute of Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph in Brazil.