Soccer on TV: Big rivalries highlight Sunday’s Concacaf World Cup qualifiers

Saturday, 11 a.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)

The Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinals kick off with the host nation, which is coming into form and has the tournament’s top scorer in Vincent Aboubakar (6 goals). Union fans probably once again won’t see Olivier Mbaizo on the field, but they should see another win for the favored Indomitable Lions. Gambia beat Guinea in the round of 16, 1-0, while Cameroon had little trouble in a 2-1 win over Comoros.

» READ MORE: Danish striker Mikael Uhre officially joins the Union for a team-record $2.8 million transfer fee

Saturday, 2 p.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)

It was said here earlier in the tournament that it’s never a good idea to call Nigeria an AFCON favorite. Naturally, as soon as the Super Eagles started looking like one, they crashed out in a 1-0 upset loss to Tunisia.

Burkina Faso beat Gabon on penalty kicks after a 1-1 tie, with the goal coming from Aston Villa’s Bertrand Traoré. The Stallions are aiming for their third semifinal berth in the last five tournaments.

Sunday, 10 a.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)

This is the big quarterfinal for star power. Mo Salah’s Egypt ousted Ivory Coast in a penalty kick shootout after a scoreless tie, with Salah striking the winner from the spot. Morocco beat Malawi, 2-1, with goals from Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Paris Saint-Germain’s Achraf Hakimi.

Sunday, 12:30 p.m. (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)

It’s unusual for a major European club competition, but the Coupe de France is playing through the FIFA window. At least this time the continent’s national teams are taking the window off, so players can stay with their clubs.

Then again, Bergerac doesn’t have to worry about that in the first place. It’s one of two amateur teams from the fourth-tier Championnat National 2 that has reached the tournament’s round of 16, two rounds after ousting Ligue 1′s Metz on penalty kicks.

Saint-Étienne, one of French soccer’s grand old clubs, is a six-time Coupe de France winner. But Les Verts haven’t won the tournament since 1977. The present-day team snapped a seven-game Ligue 1 losing streak on Wednesday, giving a glimmer of hope for escaping relegation.

The other fourth-tier team still alive, Versailles FC, visits Ligue 2′s Toulouse on Saturday (10:15 a.m.). Unfortunately, that game won’t be broadcast here. Versailles isn’t hosting the game for a remarkable reason: its 6,200-seat stadium is near the town’s famed royal palace, and a centuries-old rule mandates that no light must be visible within five kilometers (just over three miles) from the king’s room.

That means Versailles can’t turn the stadium’s floodlights on for the scheduled late-afternoon kickoff, and rescheduling wasn’t allowed. So Toulouse gets an exception to the rule that lower-league teams in the tournament always host higher ones.

Also unavailable for U.S. viewers this weekend is the round of 16 of the women’s Coupe de France, highlighted by the latest Paris Saint-Germain vs. Lyon rivalry clash (Saturday, 8 a.m.). The women’s soccer world was shocked when the two powers were drawn against each other this early.

Lyon just added extra spice to the occasion by signing U.S. national team star Lindsey Horan on an 18-month loan from the Portland Thorns. Horan started her pro career at PSG a decade ago, and now will team up with fellow U.S. star Catarina Macario at France’s biggest women’s team.

» READ MORE: More men's Coupe de France games to watch this weekend

Sunday, 2 p.m. (beIN Sports Xtra)

It took Senegal 350 minutes of clock time to finally score a goal from open play in this AFCON. Unfortunately for Union fans, it was the first of two goals that sent Jamiro Monteiro and Cape Verde home.

We’ll see if that win finally kicked the Lions of Teranga into gear. But they may have to play without star forward Sadio Mané, who suffered a concussion in that game from a nasty collision with Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha. Mané kept playing for a few minutes, which rightly brought a lot of scorn on Senegal’s medical staff — and Mané, too.

» READ MORE: Jim Curtin can’t help but be excited about the best Union team he’s had

Sunday, 3 p.m. (Telemundo 62, Universo, Paramount+)

No, the game isn’t on regular TV in English. CBS is snakebit by the kickoff time, which the Canadian Soccer Association set at the same time as the NFL’s AFC championship game. That ruled out big CBS, and CBS Sports Network has a previous commitment to a women’s college basketball game.

At least Telemundo will have the game on its big network, called on site by Andrés Cantor, Manuel Sol and Tab Ramos. The sideline reporter will be Cantor’s son Nico, who works for CBS but gets to join his dad for this broadcast. The Paramount+ broadcast will have Andrés Cordero and Maurice Edu in its booth on site, with Kaylyn Kyle and Jenny Chiu on the sideline.

» READ MORE: USMNT’s World Cup qualifier at Canada should be better than other games, whether or not it’s a win

Sunday, 6 p.m. (Univision 65, TUDN, Paramount+)

This matchup of perennial World Cup participants almost always produces goals and fireworks. Mexico won 1-0 at Costa Rica on Sept. 5, and comes into this game off a roller-coaster 2-1 win at Jamaica on Thursday. Costa Rica’s 1-0 win over Panama was Thursday’s biggest result of all, bringing the Ticos within two points of fourth place and keeping Jamaica alive.

» READ MORE: USMNT faces four opponents in World Cup qualifying: El Salvador, Canada, Honduras, and Mother Nature

Sunday, 5 p.m. (Universo, Paramount+)

Panama’s 3-0 win at Jamaica on Sept. 5 remains one of the standout results of qualifying so far, especially for how it set the tone for Jamaica’s struggles. Andre Blake and the Reggae Boyz surely haven’t forgotten it, along with the scars of blowing leads in both of their 2-1 losses to Mexico.

Sunday, 7 p.m. (Universo, Paramount+)

Little more than bragging rights will be at stake in one of Central America’s fiercest rivalry games, with both teams at the bottom of the standings. But if El Salvador and Jamaica both win on the road, La Selecta would still be mathematically alive for fourth place.

» READ MORE: U.S. men’s soccer team edges El Salvador, 1-0, with Antonee Robinson goal