Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Families in Football’ series. Over the next few weeks, we take a look at siblings, cousins and even parents and children that have played the beautiful game. Some have played cup finals together while others have been on opposing sides. Today, we focus on German brothers, Felix and Toni Kroos.
Families in Football: German Brothers Felix and Toni Kroos
Toni Kroos
Another tale of two brothers reaching different levels in the game, Toni Kross has enjoyed domestic and international success throughout his gliterring career. The German international has made over 100 caps for his country and turned out over 500 times for two or Europe’s most prestigious football clubs.
Toni came through the Bayern Munich academy and made 13 appearances for the B team before being promoted to the senior set up in 2007, aged just 17.
He provided two assists after coming on as a substitute on his debut in a 5-0 win over Energie Cottbus and became the club’s youngest player at the time. He also provided an assist and scored a goal on his UEFA Cup debut against Red Star Belgrade.
Despite his promising start to life with Die Roten, Toni was sent out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in January 2009. In 18 months, the midfielder scored ten times in 48 appearances for the club.
Toni returned to Bayern and quickly became a key figure for the club. Having won the Bundesliga in his first season, the midfielder would add a further two along with back to back DFB-Pokal’s, one DFL-Supercup, one Champions League, one UEFA Super Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup.
In 2014, Toni left to join Spanish giants Real Madrid. Since the move, he has had continued success with Los Blancos, winning La Liga twice and the Supercopa de España twice, along with three Champions League titles, two UEFA Super Cups and four FIFA Club World Cups.
In terms of personal accolades, the midfielder has been named in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season five times along with the FIFA FIFPro World11 and UEFA Team of the Year three times each.
Toni was also a key component of the Germany squad that won the 2014 World Cup, which was held in Brazil.
Felix Kroos
Unlike his sibling, younger brother Felix hasn’t achieved anywhere near what Toni has in the game. That said, he has still surpassed 300 appearances throughout his career in German football.
Felix came through the ranks with Hansa Rostock and turned out for two seasons with the club. He also made 29 appearances for the north east outfit before joining Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.
Although he made his club debut in a Champions League match against Tottenham Hotspur, the midfielder spent much of the first three seasons at the club in the reserve team. However, by the 2013/14 season, Felix started to secure more game time and scored once from 54 Bundesliga appearances.
In January 2016, Felix joined Union Berlin on loan, before Die Eisernen signed the midfielder on a permanent basis in the summer. Kroos would spend three seasons and turn out over 100 times for Union as they secured promotion to the top flight for the first time in the club’s history.
However, upon the expiration of his contract, Felix joined Eintracht Braunschweig. The midfielder spent just one season with the 2. Bundesliga club before retiring in July 2021.
Unlike his brother, Felix never made a senior appearance for Germany but turned out 35 times at various youth levels.
Interesting Facts
Toni Kroos came close to joining David Moyes at Manchester United but after the Scot was sacked, new manager Louis an Gaal decided against signing the midfielder. Instead, Toni joined Spanish giants Real Madrid.
In November, 2021, Felix returned to Union and became the club’s U19 assistant coach.
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