Goncalo Ramos netted a hattrick on his first Portugal start (Photo: Getty)

Cristiano Ronaldo’s replacement Goncalo Ramos bagged a hattrick as Portugal thrashed Switzerland 6-1 to reach the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals.

The big news ahead of the match at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar was that Ronaldo had been dropped to the bench following his antics in the defeat to South Korea.

But even without the legendary forward, Fernando Santos’ side completely dominated for 90 minutes, with 21-year-old Benfica striker Ramos opening the scoring after just 17 minutes with a powerful strike.

In the absence of Ronaldo, 39-year-old Pepe skippered Portugal and doubled their lead before half-time, heading in from Bruno Fernandes’ corner.

After the break it was more of the same, with Ramos making it three when he tapped home Diogo Dalot’s low cross, before Raphael Guerreiro finished off a wonderful team goal for four.

Switzerland looked all over the place at the back and generated very little going forward, but managed to grab a consolation via Manuel Akanji from a corner.

But the night belonged to Ramos who, on his very first Portugal start, completed a memorable hattrick, to help send his country to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

Among huge cheers from the crowd, Ronaldo was eventually brought on with just 18 minutes to go.

More to follow…

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