After nearly 40 years calling soccer matches in the U.S., it would be easy to assume that Andres Cantor had run out of bucket list items. His voice is the soundtrack of some of the game’s most memorable moments, including the Spanish language calls as Argentina’s men’s national team and the U.S. women’s national team won World Cups in the last decade alone. There is, however, something new that he has wanted to do for some time, though he will not have to wait much longer to check that bucket list item off – call a game with his son, Nico.
The pair will team up to broadcast the Concacaf Nations League semifinal between Canada and Mexico on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET, Paramount+), marking the first time a father-son duo will share a television booth in the history of major U.S. English-language sports broadcasting. It will not be the first time the pair have worked together – that honor was reserved for the Spanish-language radio broadcast of a friendly between Mexico and Colombia when Nico, currently a broadcaster for CBS Sports Golazo Network, was still in high school and the two had to work out the mechanics of what to call each other. As Nico advanced in his career, though, his father had hopes of a high-profile reunion.
“It’s one of my bucket list things, to broadcast a game in English and hopefully it will not be the last,” Andres Cantor told CBS Sports. “I hope this is the first of many in English together or in Spanish for that matter, but I hope we have fun and entertain the audience.”
The elder Cantor is a fitting pick for the Concacaf Nations League match, in part because this week’s action – which include fellow semifinalists Panama and the U.S. men’s national team – is a dress rehearsal of sorts for the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S., Canada and Mexico will co-host. Next year’s World Cup is being viewed by many as a seminal moment in the history of soccer in the U.S., something Cantor has had a front row seat to. He called his first game, a meeting between Mexico’s Club America and Italy’s Roma, in February 1987 and quickly gained renown even as the sport struggled to do the same. Cantor’s goal call, modeled after the many Latin American broadcasters who came before him, earned him guest spots on the Late Show with David Letterman during the 1990s, an appearance on The Simpsons and a chance to hang out with Snoop Dogg during NBC and Telemundo’s broadcast of last summer’s Olympic Games.
His ability to become – and stay – relevant does not mean he did not experience some of the uphill battles soccer has in the U.S., though.
Cantor has watched soccer come a long w
“There was lots of resistance within the mainstream media about soccer,” Cantor said. “I think they felt threatened. First, there was a lot of ignorance about the game. Nobody knew too much about it and then, it was kind of a laughingstock because it was low-scoring and there were so many things I had to fight against, explaining to people a 2-2 game is a 14-14 match in the NFL. … There were so many enemies that I saw along the way until 1994 so, I was so happy and so relieved that soccer received the attention that it received.”
Cantor, like other soccer broadcasters in the U.S., sees himself as a guardian of the sport he first fell for in Argentina, the country of his birth. He is perhaps an ideal steward for the world’s most popular game in the U.S., where he moved as a teenager and is now a dual citizen of. He has been an ever-present figure in the American soccer scene for the majority of his career, to the point that he called every game of the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups for Univision – a feat he does not plan to accomplish again in 2026 for the first 48 team, 104 game edition of the competition. His list of the three most memorable games he’s called are a perfect encapsulation of who he is and the transformative feeling those moments call back to – Landon Donovan’s goal against Algeria to send the USMNT to the round of 16 in the 2010 World Cup, the last of Carli Lloyd’s three goals in the 2015 Women’s World Cup final and Gonazlo Montiel’s 2022 penalty that won Argentina the World Cup.
Cantor’s iconic goal call is fully authentic
His fame comes in large part because of his iconic goal call, the one his son Nico calls the “moneymaker.” It is a comment that inspires a chuckle out of the more experienced Cantor, even if he has a point after his dad’s voice was heard in Volkswagen and Geico commercials. The elongated, passionate use of the word is as memorable as a stellar goal, though one thing is certain – like an impressive goal, Cantor’s call is not contrived but rather an example of the skill and stylish precision only a professional can deliver.
“I know people might expect the goal call, but it has never been a gimmick for me,” Cantor said. “It has come naturally because of the beauty of the goal itself, of the intensity of the match.”
Cantor is a real natural, having no real pre-match routine to keep the vocal cords fresh. He tries to prioritize rest and shuts out the outside world on gameday, though he has overcome the wide range of obstacles that can come with any attempt to stay quiet and relaxed before a big broadcast. Take, for example, his call of Lloyd’s goal. She had already scored twice in the opening five minutes of the USWNT’s eventual 5-2 win over Japan, and her teammate Lauren Holiday made it 3-0 by the 14th minute. The early burst of goals was not quite over yet, though – Lloyd spotted Japan goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori off her line and pinged a shot from the midfield line, completing her hattrick and essentially ensuring the USWNT’s 16-year wait for a third World Cup title would be over by the 16th minute. Cantor called that strike in the reliably enthusiastic way that has become his trademark, even if his journey to Vancouver’s BC Place for the World Cup final was far from conventional.
“The night before that match in Vancouver, I called the final of Copa America between Argentina and Chile in Santiago,” he said. “I took a red-eye right after. The stadium, they closed the door behind me. It was an American flight from Santiago to Dallas, chartered a plane from Dallas to Vancouver, got to the hotel, showered and arrived at the game to call the final with probably an hour and a half to spare and yet I had enough energy, I guess, to make that call memorable because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
The challenge of working in two different languages
His instinctive fervor for the game, Cantor said, affords him the chance to bring the tempo of Spanish-language commentary to English-language audiences, a somewhat unusual opportunity in U.S. broadcasting, but a testament to his work. Though the task in front of him is the same regardless of language, Cantor noted certain differences between calling a match in Spanish and English.
“I go at a different rhythm in English,” Cantor said. “It’s really tough because every opportunity that I get to do play-by-play in English, I am asked to be me. The reason that they hire me is to be the Andres Cantor everyone knows in Spanish play-by-play, but yet, there is a cadence that is different. … It’s going to take me a few minutes to find my voice, my rhythm.”
Cantor will have the benefit of having a familiar voice there to offer an assist, if needed.
“It’s probably going to feel a little bit different knowing that I will have the comfort of having Nico next to me,” Cantor said. “I think in that sense, it will be super fun. I hope he doesn’t have to save me too many times and take me out of trouble but no, it’s going to be super fun because obviously, not only is he my son and I’m not [just] saying this. I’m taking my dad off. I respect him professionally so much that it’s going to be really, really nice working alongside him. “
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