Games to Watch: MLS, Euro qualifiers, international friendlies
El Salvador vs. Argentina
4:30 p.m. Saturday (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)
Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero and the rest of Argentina's stars have traveled to the United States for a pair of exhibition games. First up is a meeting with La Selecta at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.
El Salvador will be overmatched on the field, but not in the stands, as the Washington area boasts one of the nation's largest Salvadoran expatriate populations. Keep an eye on Salvadoran midfielder Darwin Cerén, who plays for Major League Soccer expansion team Orlando City.
Brazil vs. Chile
11:00 a.m. Sunday (beIN Sports, beIN Sports Español)
The stars will be out at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium for this clash between South American powers. Chilean dynamo Alexis Sánchez gets to play on his home turf against a Brazilian squad led by Neymar, Thiago Silva and two fellow London residents: Chelsea's Oscar and Willian.
Serbia at Portugal
2:30 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2, ESPN Deportes)
Most attention in Europe this weekend will be on qualifying matches for the 2016 European Championships. This is one of the biggest. Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal, which would take over first place in its group with a win.
Serbia's defense, led by Chelsea's Branislav Ivanović and Manchester City's Aleksandar Kolarov, will be charged with shutting him down. It's worth noting that Serbia got docked three points after its October home game against Albania was suspended when fans and players brawled on the field.
Toronto FC at Real Salt Lake
7:00 p.m. Sunday (Fox Sports 1, Fox Deportes)
It's a sore point for a lot of MLS fans that the league plays games during FIFA's international windows, when national teams summon dozens of the league's stars away from their clubs. Ideally, this contest would feature Toronto's Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley against RSL's Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando. But of those four marquee Americans, only Beckerman remained home. The rest are in Europe with Jurgen Klinsmann.
At least TFC will still have Italian playmaker Sebastian Giovinco. His duel with Beckerman should be fun to watch.
United States at Switzerland
12:00 p.m. Tuesday (Fox Sports 1, UniMás)
After blowing a 2-1 lead in a 3-2 loss to Denmark on Wednesday, the United States heads to Zurich to face a Swiss side led by Inter Milan's Xherdan Shaqiri and Napoli's Gökhan Inler. They'll pose a tough test to American captain Michael Bradley, whose pinpoint pass that set up the U.S.' second goal was a rare bright spot against the Danes.
Iran at Sweden
1:25 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN3.com)
You get Lionel Messi on Saturday, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday, and now Zlatan Ibrahimović to close out the international window. The superstar striker and his Blågult teammates host an Iran squad whose captain, midfielder Javad Nekounam, has played 150 games for his country.