In 2026, Francisco Cantero brought the Pasadena City College men's soccer program to the postseason for the second consecutive season. Named South Coast Conference North Division Coach of the Year in 2024, Cantero begins his fourth season as Lancers head coach in 2026 while in his ninth year overall coaching soccer at PCC. 

Cantero received the news in February, 2026 that he was officially named full-time coach/instructor in the Kinesiology, Health & Athletics Division.

In the 2025 season, Cantero's Lancers played in a Round 1, epic, double-overtime loss to Los Angeles City, a team that went on to play in the Final Four at the 3C2A State Championship.

Making First Team were team-leading scorer and freshman forward Julian Zuniga (seven goals, 4 assists), frosh midfielder Junior Martinez Cortes (four goals, six assists), and sophomore midfielder David Canales (five goals, two assists).

Selected Second Team were sophomore midfielder Ronaldo Garcia, freshman forward Solemon Alveno-Donofrio (five goals, five assists) and 2-year letterman forward Jouseph Contreras.

In 2024, Cantero directed Pasadena to an impressive 15-9 season, winning the first-ever SoCal Regional Playoff game to be played at Robinson Stadium over Bakersfield, 3-0. Then the #15 seeded Lancers shocked #2 seed and perennial SCC champion Mt. San Antonio on the road, 4-2, in Round 2. PCC was stopped in the Round 3 quarterfinals by Cuyamaca, 2-1. The team's 15 victories were the most by a PCC team since 2009.

PCC placed six players on the All-SCC North Team, led by First Team selections in forward Angel Ballesteros, forward Diego Lazo, and midfielder Jose Perez. Selected Second Team were defender Jordy Aviles, midfielder Ronaldo Garcia, and forward Ariel Hernandez. 

Cantero placed four players at the next level with Lazo and Perez earning scholarships to NCAA Division II Jessup University while both Angel Nolasco and Andrew Perez moved on to NAIA Life Pacific.

In 2023, Francisco Cantero returned to PCC after a 2-year layoff and immediately paid dividends in helping the Lancers to the program's first better-than-.500 season in four years at 9-8-4.

The Lancers were 2-0 in the South Coast Conference Tournament, placing seventh in the event. Cantero guided the play of All-SCC First Team defender Jorge Cedillo, who led the state in penalty kick goals with an amazing seven out of his team-leading 10 goals.

Midfielder Osmar Rojas earned All-SCC for a second time, making the First Team while midfielder Jorky Aguirre and defender Chris Amador were All-Conference Second Team selections.

In 2018-2019, Cantero accomplished a 2-year tour as women's head coach. He also made a stint as a men's soccer assistant coach in 2016-2017. 

As an assistant in 2016, the PCC men's soccer advanced to the SoCal Regional Finals.

He is also served as an assistant coach for the Lancers women's team in 2023, helping that squad under head coach Terryn Soelberg to new heights, including a school record 17 victories, an upset over Mt. San Antonio in the regional playoffs, and an advancement to the SoCal semifinals.

On the women's side, Cantero guided the progress of All-State top scorer Katy Coats as she led the South Coast Conference and finished second in the state in scoring during the 2019 season. Coats was a 2-time, All-SCC First Team selection, and earned a scholarship to the MSU Denver. In her 2-year PCC career, Coats rose to third on the school's all-time scoring list with 42 goals and 97 points.

Cantero coached 2019 All-SCC Team selections in Coats, midfielder Erica Perez, midfielder/defender Jillian Demasi and midfielder/forward Montserrat Menendez. Sophia Noriega, a forward, also earned a scholarship to attend the University of Antelope Valley. 

The '19 Lancers started the season with an impressive 8-game undefeated streak, including posting the biggest win by a PCC team in 20 years, 11-1 over West Los Angeles. 

In 2018, Cantero coached All-South Coast Conference First Team selections in defender Alexxis Molinar. Amanda Aviles and Jocelyn Carranza each were named to the All-SCC Second Team. Molinar moved on to the University of La Verne while Avila transferred to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas.

From 2011-2014, Cantero served as a coach for the Salina Soccer Club in Kansas and then a volunteer assistant coach for the women's team at Bethany College (Lindsborg, KS). From 2014-2016, he was employed as an assistant coach for both women and men at NCAA Division II Holy Names University in Oakland.

Cantero had been an assistant coach at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, helping to direct its girls team to a Mission League title in 2023. He is also was a girls club coach for Soccer With A Purpose (SWAP), a company that provides private training for individuals and groups at different age levels.

Cantero is a local product from Marshall Fundamental High before attending PCC and playing as a starting defender in his two seasons in 2009-2010. He earned a playing scholarship to Kansas Wesleyan University where he flourished in 2011-2012. He was a two-time Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team selection. In his senior season, he was named NAIA All-American and NSCAA All-Plains West Region First Team. He was the conference Defender of the Year as well.

He earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science at Kansas Wesleyan and then completed his master's in coaching and athletic administration at Concordia University in Irvine.