The presidents of the United States and Ghana are to swap football jerseys the next time they meet following Saturday's World Cup match between the countries, the White House spokesman said.

Barack Obama and John Atta Mills "are eagerly anticipating the World Cup match between the United States and Ghana this afternoon ... and have agreed that when they next meet they will exchange team jerseys," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The match kicked off in the short break between Saturday morning's Group of Eight (G8) summit in Huntsville, Ontario and the afternoon's Group of 20 (G20) summit in Toronto.

Ghana is the last African nation in the World Cup, after five other teams from the continent were knocked out in the group stages. The US team stunned observers by qualifying for the knockout round as the winner of its group, ahead of England.