Germany wait on Hummels fitness for Ghana

A decision on the Borussia Dortmund central defender was expected to be taken based on the day's final training session in Fortaleza's Estadio Castelao, Loew said.

Hummels was the last to enter the pitch and did some warm-up exercises with the rest of the side before journalists were asked to leave the stadium.

Hummels suffered a thigh injury in Germany's 4-0 defeat of Portugal on Monday in Salvador.

"He has done a running session but is not 100 per cent. So far he has not done any sprinting or tackling, and will attempt this in final training," Loew said.

If Hummels fails the fitness test, Jerome Boateng could move from right-back to the centre of defence, or he could be replaced in a straight swap by Shkodran Mustafi or Matthias Ginter.

"I don't want to reshuffle the defence but if I have to then we have some good solutions," Loew said.

Germany could move close to the last 16 with a win over Ghana, a team they beat 1-0 in the group stage four years ago in South Africa.

Ghana lost their opening game, 2-1 to the United States, and Loew says he expects an opponent who fights to the last.

Italy's defeat to Costa Rica and Australia's close 3-2 defeat to the Netherlands showed that no opponent should be underestimated.

"We have to step it up. We can pull away in this group with a win and anyone letting up loses in this tournament," Loew said.

"This is a final for Ghana. If they don't win it will difficult for them."