The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup is underway across the U.S., and it comes with a lot of notable soccer voices calling it. The tournament’s matches are mostly airing on DAZN, with some airing on TNT Sports’ channels and platforms as well. But TNT Sports is producing the games and has brought in a wide range of soccer broadcasting talent, including legendary announcer Andrés Cantor. Cantor spoke to AA on this tournament recently, and said it appealed to him as a way to continue growing his body of English play-by-play work, as well as for this being the inaugural edition of this event in its current 32-team form.
“My interest is to keep venturing into the English play-by-play world as well. So when [TNT Sports] called and offered me this opportunity. I thought it was a good thing to do because first, it’s the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup, it’s a very interesting tournament, to say the least. Hopefully it will be a good one, and I’d like to be part of history.”
Over the decades, Cantor has done a lot of broadcasting work for Univision, Telemundo Deportes, NBC Sports, his own Futbol de Primera Radio Network (which has held the Spanish-language radio rights for the FIFA World Cup since 2002), and other outlets. He’s even been featured on The Simpsons. And some of his work has come in English, including on the Olympics for NBC Sports and with his son Nico (known for CBS Sports’ Golazo Show and more) on a CONCACAF Nations League broadcast for Paramount+ earlier this year. But Cantor is still more used to calling games in Spanish, and said he appreciates this tournament as a way to keep growing his English-language body of work.
“I haven’t done it enough, to be honest. The March game with Nico on Golazo Network was very fun, was very exciting. I have done some Premier League for NBC Sports, I did some Olympics for NBC Sports. I was pretty much, I would say, the first one to cross over into English way back in 2000 when Dick Ebersol hired me to pull the U.S. men’s and women’s games at the Sydney Olympics. So it’s been going well, I felt comfortable in March, and hopefully I will feel comfortable again.”
Similarly to what we’ve heard from some other bilingual broadcasters, Cantor said the challenge of working in both languages is appealing to him. And he also appreciates the support he’s gotten from fans who have followed him even to work in languages they’re less familiar with.
“It’s something that keeps me alive, switching from English to Spanish: I’m usually Spanish, I’ve been doing Spanish for the last 40 years. It’s fun to do this in in English, and I appreciate the love of the people that follow me in Spanish that watch me in English, and those that are not fluent in Spanish, but still watch my goal calls in Spanish on Telemundo. I’m super appreciative of that.”
Cantor said he also appreciates the wide range of talent TNT Sports has put together for this tournament, including other bilingual broadcasters such as Juan Pablo Angel, Melissa Ortiz, and more.
“All the people that they have are very professional. It’s really incredible. And it just makes me a little proud to see Hispanic names in the lineup. I can’t generalize for every Latino, but it shows our flexibility of adapting and being able to do games both in Spanish and English. Juan Pablo comments in English and Spanish, Melissa speaks very good Spanish, and I’m sure some others in that line up do as well.”
He said he thinks that’s a great approach for such a global tournament.
“It’s awesome to see this broad lineup of talent from all over the world that will serve the purpose of commentating and analyzing games from teams from all parts of the world.”
Cantor has had some fun with that team, too, including appearing in studio to rank their attempts at his famed “GOOOOAALLLL!” call:
The Club World Cup does come with some particular challenges, though. Cantor said one is explaining the newly-expanded tournament and its qualification process to fans who didn’t follow that closely.
“We have to explain why the teams I’m going to be broadcasting are playing this tournament, what is their merit for playing, because obviously it was kind of complex. FIFA says it’s the 32 best teams in the world, but there’s an asterisk according to the way the path was set.”
And he said it’s not just about casual fans there, as even intense fans aren’t necessarily following every league or competition given how much is out there.
“For the casual viewer or just the regular soccer fan, with so much soccer nowadays, I have to remind myself on any given Wednesday or Thursday, ‘Okay, so, this game is for what?’ So obviously there will be an exploration, and we have to put in context why the two teams I will be broadcasting are playing in this 32-team tournament.”
Cantor said another challenge for him is that beyond his Club World Cup work for TNT Sports and DAZN, he’s doing Gold Cup work for his radio network. But he said that’s a good problem to have.
“It’s going to be kind of challenging because I’ll also be doing Copa Oro for my radio network. So it will be long hours of watching and doing play by play of national teams in Spanish, club teams in English, lots of risk for my voice. This dries up your voice, right? But it’s all in the head. It’s going to be a fun summer.”
And with the Club World Cup in particular, he thinks it’s exciting as likely the last big club tournament Inter Miami star Lionel Messi will play in.
“Let’s enjoy Messi’s last dance at a major club event. This, obviously for him, will be his last major club event. Hopefully not with the national team. But let’s enjoy his grace and him playing in this tournament.”
That excitement factored into Cantor’s call of Messi’s goal Thursday night:
The Club World Cup is also somewhat of a trial run for next year’s FIFA World Cup, which will be held in the U.S. as well as Canada and Mexico. Cantor said the signs a year out from that event are very positive for the state of soccer in America, especially compared to the last time the U.S. hosted that tournament back in 1994.
“The fandom is super solid,” he said. “I go back to 1994 where we had to explain to everyone what the World Cup was. And I think now things are totally different in the sense that everyone pretty much knows that the World Cup is going to be played.
“I mean, that’s a gross generalization, because if you stop anyone in the street, they might not say that, but if you tell them ‘The World Cup,’ at least those two words will not be as foreign as it was in 1994 when we had to stop and explain ‘The rest of the world plays this sport called soccer, with a round ball.’ Now, if you tell anybody the World Cup is coming here, they will pretty much know what it is.”
And Cantor thinks that World Cup will take soccer interest in the U.S. to a new level still.
“There is a very hungry public that wants to see good quality soccer next year. The World Cup is going to be the greatest thing that will ever happen to this country, no doubt.”
The TNT Sports FIFA Club World Cup schedule is here, with Cantor’s next game on their networks Inter Miami vs. Palmeiras Monday at 9 p.m. ET. The full DAZN FIFA Club World Cup Schedule is here.