The 29-year-old Arsenal star — who is at his third World Cup finals — suffered the injury in Germany’s 1-0 win over the USA on Thursday in their final group stage match and an MRI scan on Saturday revealed a small tear.
“Lukas must rest for two or three days, but should we progress in the tournament it won’t be a problem for him to play,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew.
With Podolski out, Bayern Munich’s Mario Goetze is set to take his place on the left wing.
Germany’s right-back Jerome Boateng also missed training on Saturday with a knee irritation, but Loew said it will be “no problem” for the Bayern Munich defender to play.
Meanwhile, a mobile phone malfunction means Germany coach Joachim Loew is hard to reach at the World Cup ahead of his team’s last 16 clash against Algeria on Monday.
The 54-year-old has had a tough time with electronics at Germany’s Santo Andre World Cup base having lost all of his favourite music when he accidentally dropped his ipod during a run on the beach.
Now a fault with his mobile telephone is keeping Germany’s head coach on silent mode ahead of their last 16 match at Porto Alegre’s Beira-Rio Stadium.
“I can’t telephone or receive SMS messages, I have no idea where the problem lies,” he admitted.
But with his full attention on Germany’s bid to win a fourth World Cup title, Loew adopted a typically laid-back Brazilian attitude to the problem.
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