Megan Rapinoe is facing criticism after she said that an injury she suffered in her final match as a professional player was proof that God does not exist.

The two-time World Cup and 2019 Ballon d’Or winner suffered a torn Achilles tendon in opening minutes of Saturday’s NWSL Championship final between her club OL Reign and the eventual title winners, Gotham FC.

But the 38-year-old has received a backlash on social media after saying, post-match: “I’m not a religious person or anything and if there was a God, this is proof that there isn’t.

“This is f----- up. It’s just f----- up. Six minutes in and I eat my Achilles.”

Her remarks have offended some fans of the US team on social media, while broadcaster Piers Morgan, writing for Sky News in Australia, said: “I’d say it’s more like definitive proof that God does exist – and shares my view that this arrogant, pink-haired, self-promoting prima donna didn’t deserve the glorious send-off she so desperately craved.

“Not for the first time in recent years, Rapinoe’s gigantic ego was exposed for writing checks her once-great but now-fading talent couldn’t cash.”

Former ESPN sports host Sage Steele also labelled Rapinoe as a “narcissist”.

California-born Rapinoe later appeared to indicate she had been joking, adding: “Thank God I have a f------ deep well of a sense of humour. It’s devastating to go out in a final so early.

“Everyone is always like, ‘Who kicked me?’ And obviously, no one was even around me, and I was pressing. That’s what it felt like, just a huge pop and I can’t even feel where the Achilles is, but I’m pretty sure I tore my Achilles. The worst possible outcome.”

Saturday’s final brought down the curtain on a career that saw the winger play 203 times for the United States, in which she scored 63 goals and provided 73 assists.