The Wellington-born 22-year-old, who withdrew from New Zealand's squad for a friendly against Mexico earlier this month due to the knee injury, received the worst possible diagnosis on Friday.

Henderson will miss between six and eight months of football, despite originally believing the injury was only minor after initial MRI scans revealed no major damage.

The former US Ivy Player of the Year winner initially sustained the injury after twisting his knee training with Swedish Allsvenskan club Mjallby AIF in a pre-season camp in Cyprus.

Mjallby rehab manager Mats Book said: "Such injuries usually take this around 6-8 months before they're back.

"And we regret to say that Craig will not play anymore for the rest of the year, so any possible World Cup participation is thus excluded."

Book added: "It's very sad for Mjällby AIF and particularly sad for Craig."