Kylian Mbappe hid a back injury ahead of the semifinal of the World Cup against Belgium and the final against Croatia.

Mbappe hurt three vertebrae in his back when picking his things up to go for a shower.

"The most important thing was making sure that our opponents did not find out," Mbappe said. "They could have taken advantage of that and targeted this sensitive area. The players and the staff kept it hidden -- even for the final."

Mbappe said he hopes to be in contention for the Ballon d'Or alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Raphael Varane and PSG teammate Neymar.

"I would put Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric, Raphael Varane... and me," he said.

Mesut Ozil has announced his retirement from the Germany national team.

Ozil has Turkish ancestry but grew up in Germany and defended his right to meet Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in a lengthy statement in which he also attacked the German football federation (DFB). “For me, having a picture with President Erdoğan wasn’t about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family’s country,” Özil wrote on Twitter.

“My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies. The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt. I feel unwanted and think what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.”

Making direct reference to Reinhard Grindel, president of the DFB, Özil added: “People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has players from dual‑heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an immigrant when we lose.

“It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect. I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don’t. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.”

Özil continued to criticize Grindel. “I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job properly,” Özil wrote.

The 2018 World Cup Final is believed to have been watched by approximately 900 million people worldwide.

The final drew an estimated 107 million viewers in 19 European countries, according to Eurodata TV Worldwide, which noted the strong ratings in the region were fueled by the presence of teams from France, England, Belgium and Croatia in the final four.

In the United States, the final was watched by 11.8 million on Fox compared to 17.3 on ABC in 2014.

Brazil opens as the favorite of the 2022 World Cup as 6-1 favorites, followed by France at +650 and Germany at 7-1.

The United States, which didn't qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1986, opened as 60-1 long shots (16th-best odds).

Qatar has 150-1 odds.

Argentina has announced the mutual termination of manager Jorge Sampaoli's contract.

By most accounts, Argentina's players revolted against Sampaoli during the World Cup.

Sampaoli was previously manager of Chile and Sevilla.

France has won the 2018 World Cup with a 4-2 victory over Croatia in the final.

France received goals from Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba and Kylian Mbappe.

Luka Modric has won the Golden Ball of the 2018 World Cup, beating out Eden Hazard and Antoine Griezmann.

Kylian Mbappe was named the Best Young Player.

Harry Kane won the Golden Boot with six goals.

Thibaut Courtois won the Golden Glove.

Gareth Southgate advocated for clubs to give younger players more of a chance as he did with England in the World Cup.

“I was given an opportunity here to blood younger players in this tournament and they have proved that they could perform," said Southgate. "Club managers need that time [but] you have got to be brave enough to take those decisions.

“Some players we took – I’m thinking particularly of Pickford, Maguire, Trippier – they come back better players, more rounded individuals. I think we’ve got the basis of a really good team, and we’ve got some young players coming through. It’s got to become more difficult to get into the senior squad.”

The 2018 World Cup is now through the semifinals and here is how the players rank in terms of the WhoScored player rating.

1. Eden Hazard: 8.53

2. Yerry Mina: 8.35

3. Isco: 8.29

4. Neymar: 8.25

5. Kieran Trippier: 8.09

6. Harry Kane: 8.00

7. Lionel Messi: 7.87

8. Wilfred Ndidi: 7.77

9. Edinson Cavani: 7.75

10. Douglas Costa: 7.73

11. Cristiano Ronaldo 7.73

12. Kylian Mbappe: 7.72

13. Casemiro: 7.66

14. Cho Hyun-Woo: 7.60

15. Coutinho: 7.60

16. Luka Modric: 7.60

17. Mario Mandzukic: 7.59

18. Andreas Granqvist: 7.54

19. Kevin de Bruyne: 7.54

20. Oghenkaro Etebo: 7.52

21. Jose Gimenez: 7.52

22. Kasper Schmeichel: 7.51

23. Aleksandr Golovin: 7.50

24. Wahbi Khazri: 7.49

25. Toni Kroos: 7.47

Croatia defeated England 2-1 to advance to the World Cup Final where they'll play France.

England went up 1-0 with a Kieran Trippier goal in the fifth minute, but Ivan Perisic equalized in the 68th minute and Mario Mandzukic scored the winner in the 109th minute to give Croatia the win.

France defeated Belgium on Tuesday by a final score of 1-0.