Baden Baden (Germany): England striker Michael Owen has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup finals with a knee injury, the Football Association said on Wednesday.
"It has now been confirmed that the injury will prevent Michael playing any further part in the World Cup and he will return to England immediately," the FA said on its Web site.
Owen's club, Newcastle United, said the striker had ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee when he fell awkwardly less than two minutes into England's Group B 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne on Tuesday.
He was due to fly back to England on Wednesday after undergoing a scan on the injury.
Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd told the club's Web site: "At this stage, it's too early to say how long he will be out for, although it is a serious injury.
"He'll come home and back into our care and will be assessed by our club medical staff at some point in the next couple of days following his return."
The disappointed 26-year-old striker told the FA web site: "Obviously, it's a massive blow to suffer the injury - and be out of the World Cup.
"As soon as it happened I knew I was in trouble. It was a major disappointment to pick up the injury so early in the game," added Owen, who has scored 36 goals in 80 England games.
He had been looking to show his true form against the Swedes, having been given less than an hour in each of England's two previous group wins over Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago after a lengthy absence with a broken foot.
Injuries have been the bane of Owen's year since leaving Real Madrid last August for Tyneside. He missed matches in the early part of last season due to hamstring problems before breaking a bone in his foot on Dec 31.
In total, he made only 10 starts and one substitute's appearance for the club.
England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, who replaced Owen with lanky striker Peter Crouch against Sweden, added: "Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas.
"I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup - it's blow to him and a big loss for the team."
Along with Wayne Rooney, who against the Swedes was starting his first game since breaking his foot on April 29, Owen is England's only proven goalscorer at the top level.
Eriksson had gambled by bringing only four strikers to Germany, with the other being 17-year-old Theo Walcott.
The teenager has only made one substitutes' appearance for England, in last month's friendly win over Hungary, and has never played for Arsenal since joining them in January.
Owen said: "I'm clearly sorry to be leaving the lads in Germany but I'm convinced they can go on and achieve success.
"I'll be following all the matches very closely and giving them my full support, hopefully all the way to (the final in) Berlin."
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