Kroos slams Germany after elimination! "We don't have a single world-class player"
Raphael Durand
Dailysports's expert
Toni Kroos delivered a scathing assessment of the German national team after their exit from the 2026 World Cup in the round of 16.
Details: Germany lost to Paraguay on penalties — 1:1, 3:4 in the shootout — and bowed out of the tournament.
"Right now, we don't have a single world-class player," Kroos said on the show Kroos & Kroos: die WM unter der Lupe.
The former midfielder emphasized that while the current squad has players with great potential, that alone doesn't make them top-tier stars. According to him, it's world-class players who are deciding matches at this World Cup and topping the goal-scoring charts.
"We don't have a single one of those players; we need to be honest about that," Kroos added.
He also compared the current German team to the squads from more successful years, noting that he used to feel the national team could always step up when it mattered. Now, Kroos believes, that extra gear just isn't there.
"This team simply can't do that anymore. We just think we're better than Paraguay and will somehow win," he said.
Reminder: Earlier, we reported that Jürgen Klopp is ready to take charge of the German national team
