Here’s the match report:
[ Goncalo Ramos’s stunning hat-trick powers Portugal pass SwitzerlandOpens in new window ]
That’s all from me for tonight after another fun day at the World Cup. The quarter-finals are set:
Croatia v Brazil - Friday 3pm
Netherlands v Argentina - Friday 7pm
Morocco v Portugal - Saturday 3pm
England v France - Saturday 7pm
Two rest days of the World Cup and then some great games to savour. Good night.
FULL-TIME: Portugal 6 Switzerland 1
Swiss hit for six, wonderful display by a youthful Portugal (apart from Pepe at 39 at the back). Twenty-one year-old Ramos replaces Ronaldo in the starting line-up and scores a hat-trick. Ominous for their next opponents Morocco, but Portugal will face a much sterner test than this listless display by Switzerland.
92 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Rafael Leao with a brilliant goal. Portugal have some talent in their squad. dribbles down the wing, flicks inside and then curls it into the top corner. What a hammering.
87 mins: Okafor bursts into the box, well blocked. Fernandes wins a free out. Ronaldo is almost through but the defender deals with it and kicks it off Ronaldo and off.
84 mins: Goal disallowed for Ronaldo, he’s miles offside. Ball into the net well with a powerful shot but it’s ruled out.
81 mins: Shaqiri plays to Embolo who flicks the ball up and tries to acrobatically volley it into the corner. What a consolation goal that would have been. Out for a corner and Xhaka heads it over.
75 mins: Game has taken on a surreal atmosphere of an exhibition with the crowd cheering every time Ronaldo touches the ball. Ronaldo gets a free-kick. Straight into the wall, as they often do.
72 mins: On comes Cristiano Ronaldo for Ramos. Biggest cheer of the night. Ramos with one of the best World Cup debuts of all-time.
70 mins: Bruno just misses getting in on the act, just missing the ball from the cross. What a disasterclass by Switzerland today, very surprising.
66 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Ramos gets a hat-trick! What a performance. World-class finish with a little dink over the keeper. Bernardo Silva to Felix to Ramos. Terrible defending, super forward play.
64 mins: The crowd is chanting for Ronaldo constantly, seemingly unimpressed by the brilliant Portugal performance that has happened without him on the field.
60 mins: Bit of a crazy stretch of play there. Switzerland usually renowned for their defending have had a disastrous game but Portugal have been superb, with lots of great movement and incisive attacking.
57 mins: GOAL FOR SWITZERLAND! Maybe not quite game over. Corner in is flicked on by Ramos and Akanji knocks it at the back post. High-scoring game this one.
55 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Rafa Guerreiro gets in on the act. Portugal break again, brilliant play started with Otavio with the flick and then Portugal through on goal after a great pass and Guerreiro hits it high into the net. Game over?
53 mins: This game has been a surprise mismatch. Felix has a great chance again, takes a shot from inside the box and it’s deflected out for a corner, which is cleared. Zakaria and Seferovic on for Sow and Freuler.
50 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Ramos again! Dalot with a great ball into a dangerous area after beating his man, gets ahead of the defender and slots in under the keeper’s legs.
47 mins: Comert on for Schar at half-time. Portugal start this positively again as William Carvalho drives through but the ball to Bernardo is cut out.
HALF-TIME: Portugal 2 Switzerland 0
Easily Portugal’s best performance of the tournament after captain Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped. Manchester United fans this season will hardly be surprised to see such a scene play out, but nevertheless it was a courageous call by Fernando Santos that has paid dividends. Ramos deserved his goal and has been threatening and 39-year-old Pepe got on the scoresheet. Switzerland with a mountain of work to do to get back into this.
Watch the goals again:
48 mins: Ramos’ pace and directness has caused Switzerland all sorts of problems, hard to see how Ronaldo would have pressed and got in behind like he has. Guerreiro takes a shot from distance, but slices it wide.
46 mins: Brilliant run by Felix he beats two or three men, who has been outstanding this game, plays it into Bruno but Bruno loses it.
44 mins: Shaqiri plays to Vargas but they lose it again, Ramos is through after a fantastic pass... but it’s a brilliant save by Sommer.
42 mins: Switzerland give it away again, Felix with a nice ball to Fernandes but he way overhits the cross.
40 mins: Big chance for Switzerland, Costa gets an important touch on the cross and another, then Dalot clears off the line. Portugal escape.
37 mins: Thirty-nine years old Pepe, still performing at the highest level. Some operator. Portugal are all over Switzerland, inspired changes by Santos before the game it appears. Switzerland have been surprisingly poor and open so far.
33 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Otavio to Felix and a superb ball into the box, nearly in for Ramos again but great headed clearance by Schar. Corner for Portugal and goal for Pepe! Powerful header into the net after a great delivery by Bruno Fernandes.
30 mins: Free kick by Shaqiri... fantastic effort curled around the wall. Might have been going wide but the keeper saves and knocks it behind.
27 mins: Fabian Schar has had a tough start to the game and he’s down injured, getting medical attention. He’s continuing for now. Dalot has played well so far, another big call of the game as Cancelo was dropped.
23 mins: Felix plays it over the top and it comes to Ramos again. This time he should pass to Bruno, he takes a weak shot at Sommer.
21 mins: That was a magic moment for Portugal and the game needed it after a cagey start. The young Benfica striker is only 21 and has scored 14 for 21 this season at club level. Sixteen years Ronaldo’s junior, it was like Ronaldo at his peak. Another chance for Portugal, Otavio hits straight at the keeper from the edge of the box.
18 mins: GOAL FOR PORTUGAL! Gonçalo Ramos with a brilliant shot! Ronaldo’s replacement up front justifies his spot. Throw-in and then ball into the box from Bernardo Silva and a powerful strike with his left. Straight into the top corner, it was past Sommer before he saw it.
15 mins: Dalot tackles well after Vargas tries to take him on. Switzerland play a long ball to the wing but goes out of play.
12 mins: Bad touch by Dias just outside his box but he escapes. Portugal yet to create and it’s a cagey start by both teams.
10 mins: Embolo and Dias having quite the physical battle. Portuguese fans making plenty of noise despite the stadium looking half-full.
5 mins: Embolo holds his face after a clash with Ruben Dias, maybe an elbow to the face? No foul is a strange decision. Embolo is not happy. The ball comes to Embolo and he bursts through and his shot is blocked by Pepe.
2 mins: Positive start for Portugal who spray the ball around. Felix plays into Bruno Fernandes in the box but a bad touch and he loses the ball.
Earlier, Morocco dumped Spain out of the World Cup in a last-16 penalty shoot-out on Tuesday with Spanish-born Achraf Hakimi scoring the decisive spot-kick after Spain squandered all three of their attempts, following a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes.
Madrid-born Achraf Hakimi hit the winning penalty, showing no fear with a panenka, after Sevilla goalkeeper Bono had saved from both Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets, with Spain failing to convert any of their three penalties after Pablo Sarabia hit the post with the first.
Check out as it happened here:
[ World Cup as it happened: Morocco beat Spain on penaltiesOpens in new window ]
Match report here:
[ Morocco send Spain crashing out of World Cup after penalty shoot-outOpens in new window ]
Some other World Cup-related reading as Roy Keane has caused a stir in Brazil with his comments on ITV complaining about Brazilian goal celebrations and dancing. Former Ireland midfielder took exception to Brazil players and manager dancing after scoring goals.
“Brazilian footballers like to dance when they score. Full stop. Respect it and deal with it. It’s hard to explain an authentic demonstration of happiness to someone who doesn’t know how to express happiness.”
As reported yesterday, Portugal coach Santos was unimpressed with Ronaldo’s reaction to a substitution against South Korea.
“Have I seen the images? Yes, I didn’t like it, not at all. I didn’t like it. I really didn’t like it. But from that moment onwards everything is finished regarding that issue. These matters are resolved behind closed doors. It’s resolved. Full stop on this matter and now everyone is focused on tomorrow’s match.”
The result is Ronaldo will not start this key game for his country against Switzerland.
[ Portugal coach Santos unimpressed with Ronaldo’s reaction to substitutionOpens in new window ]
Team news: As mentioned in the previous post, Portugal coach Fernando Santos benched skipper and all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo. He appeared to challenge Santos over the decision to substitute him in their loss to South Korea but the 37-year-old, a free agent after leaving Manchester United, denied that was the case. Gonçalo Ramos will start up front.
Xherdan Shaqiri will line up with skipper Granit Xhaka in midfield for Switzerland. Breel Embolo, Switzerland’s top scorer in Qatar with two goals, continues to lead the line while first choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer returns after missing their last group game against Serbia due to illness.
Portugal: Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Bruno Fernandes, Otavio, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, William Carvalho, Goncalo Ramos
Switzerland: Yann Sommer, Edimilson Fernandes, Fabian Schaer, Manuel Akanji, Remo Freuler, Granit Xhaka, Ricardo Rodriguez, Djibril Sow, Ruben Vargas,, Xherdan Shaqiri, Breel Embolo
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the final last 16 match between Portugal and Switzerland in Lusail Stadium in Qatar. Portugal qualified top of the group after two wins in their opening games, while Switzerland came through a wild game with Serbia to book their place. Cristiano Ronaldo will not start the game, he’s been dropped for 21-year-old Gonçalo Ramos, after reports of a rift with the manager Fernando Santos.
