England striker Michael Owen will miss the rest of the World Cup after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

A scan on Owen's right knee Wednesday confirmed the 26-year-old soccer star would be unable to play again in the tournament.

Michael Owen injured his knee during the second minute of England's 2-2 draw with Sweden on Tuesday.
(Sven Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images)

Owen is returning home to England where his medical care will be managed by his English Premiership team, Newcastle United.

"Obviously it's a massive blow to suffer the injury — and be out of the World Cup," Owen said in a statement published on England's Football Association website.

"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."

Owen twisted his right knee just over one minute into England's 2-2 draw with Sweden in Cologne, Germany, on Tuesday. He crumpled to the field in agony before crawling to the sideline while clutching his leg.

He was carried off the field on a stretcher.

"Michael has had terrible luck with injuries since Christmas," England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said in a news release.

"I feel very sorry for him to miss out on the rest of the World Cup — it's a blow to him and a big loss for the team."

Question marks surrounded Owen's health heading into the tournament. He broke his foot in December and had been out of action until last month.

Eriksson 'not that worried'

England's two main strikers are now expected to be Liverpool's Peter Crouch and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. They also have 17-year-old Theo Walcott, who boasts only 25 minutes of international experience.

Rooney recently had major health questions of his own. He returned to game action this past week for the first time since April 29, when he broke a metatarsal bone in his right foot.

Even without Owen, Eriksson said he believes his side has what it takes to go all the way in Germany.

"We have Theo Walcott, who we haven't seen yet, we have the players in the squad who can play second striker such as Joe Cole. And Steven Gerrard and Aaron Lennon can do it, too," he told the BBC.

"I'm not that worried about it. We don't want any more injuries on strikers, but I'm not worried."

England's next match is a round-of-16 elimination encounter with Ecuador in Stuttgart on Sunday.