Ex-player put fingers in the wound
Kroos about DFB claims: “Milestranial away”
09.09.2025 – 12:43 p.m.Reading time: 2 min.
The German national team did not spill fame in the two international matches. A world champion was also little taken with what he saw.
In his podcast “just loops”, Toni Kroos critically commented on the situation of the German national team. The former midfielder of Real Madrid currently sees the team of national coach Julian Nagelsmann far from the top of the world.
“Standed miles away now and really not good,” said Kroos with a view to the title maturity of the DFB team a year before the World Cup. To talk about a possible title gain, he currently believes that: Germany is “far from talking about a world championship title.” At the same time, he recalled that the next World Cup will not take place until the summer of 2026. “Let the right players get fit in summer,” said Kroos.
From his time at Real Madrid, he knows similar situations: “In September or October, I often rightly heard why Real is not a favorite for the Champions League this year. And in May it often looked different.” Nevertheless, Kroos emphasized: “However, I do not count the German national team to those who are allowed to have the greatest ambitions. Because others are simply better.”
One reason for this is the limited selection of top players in the German squad. Nagelsmann could “not choose from a pot of 50 top international players”. “If you take a step over international class now, it will be really tight.”
Despite all the criticism, Kroos trusts the team to master the qualification for the World Cup: “No matter which squad you are there, that should be enough in these games.” At the start of the qualification, Germany had lost 0-2 in Slovakia, and a mixed appearance followed in the 3-1 against Northern Ireland. Kroos said: “No matter who, with whom, of course, it has to look much, much better and more confident against these teams.”
After the home European Championship, Kroos continued: “And now the club came again.” After all, he evaluated the group constellation positively: “The great luck is that we got a group in which you cannot leave.” In addition to Slovakia and Northern Ireland, Luxembourg is represented in Group A.