Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Portugal head coach Fernando Santos for the World Cup encounter with Switzerland — and his replacement Goncalo Ramos scored a stunning hat-trick to fire his country towards the semifinals.
The veteran’s reaction to being substituted against South Korea displeased Santos and Benfica youngster Ramos was given the chance to impress at centre-forward, something he did emphatically when dispatching Joao Felix’s 17th-minute pass.
Pepe then became the second-oldest goalscorer in World Cup history after Cameroon great Roger Milla when he converted Bruno Fernandes’ 33rd-minute corner.
Switzerland’s misery continued early in the second half when Ramos coolly converted Diogo Dalot’s low cross at the near post and Raphael Guerriero made it 4-0 before Manuel Akanji pulled one back for Murat Yakin’s beleaguered side.
The Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights for Portugal vs Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup. Follow for complete results from the round of 16 match in Qatar.
MORE: How to watch Portugal vs Switzerland
Portugal vs Switzerland score
1H
2H
Final
Portugal
2
3
—
Switzerland
0
1
—
Goals:
POR — Goncalo Ramos (Joao Felix) — 17th min.
POR — Pepe (Bruno Fernandes) — 33rd min.
POR — Goncalo Ramos (Diogo Dalot) — 51st min.
POR — Raphael Guerriero (Joao Felix) — 55th min.
SUI — Manuel Akanji (Joao Felix) — 58th min.
POR — Goncalo Ramos (Joao Felix) — 67th min.
Projected lineups:
Portugal lineup (4-3-2-1, right to left): 22. Diogo Costa (GK) — 2. Diogo Dalot, 3. Pepe, 4. Ruben Dias, 5. Raphael Guerriero — 10. Bernardo Silva, 25. Otavio, 14. William Carvalho — 8. Bruno Fernandes, 11. Joao Felix — 25. Goncalo Ramos.
Switzerland lineup (4-2-3-1): 1. Sommer (GK) — 2. Fernandes, 22. Schar, 4. Akanji, 13. Rodriguez — 10. Xhaka, 8. Freuler — 23. Shaqiri, 15. Sow, 17. Vargas — 7. Embolo
MORE: Watch every World Cup match live with fuboTV (U.S.-only free trial)
Portugal vs Switzerland live updates, highlights from 2022 World Cup
73rd minute: Here comes Ronaldo, Pepe fixes the armband to his bicep. His introduction gets more of a cheer than Ramos coming off, which is ridiculous. Grow up, the lot of you.
70th minute: Lads, behave yourselves. Fernandes just fails to get on the end of Guerriero’s volleyed cross. It would have been an implausible goal. Portugal having so much fun out there.
67th minute: GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! Goncalo Ramos!!!!!!
Hat-trick for Ronaldo’s replacement. More beautiful creative play from Joao Felix, who feeds it to Ramos for an implausibly composed dinked finish. That’s the first hat-trick of the 2022 World Cup.
64th minute: A large section of fans now chanting to see Ronaldo. Hard to know whether he’ll like that or if it just makes him feel like he’s rapidly become some sort of testimonial footballer.
58th minute: GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! Manuel Akanji!!!!!!
It’s been a wretched night for Akanji and his defensive colleagues but the Manchester City defender is on hand to get Switzerland on the scoresheet, prodding home at the back post.
56th minute: GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! Raphael Guerriero!!!!!!
Another of Fernando Santos’ big selection calls comes up trumps. Switzerland are all over the place, defenders scattered everywhere as Joao Felix glides towards their area. He feeds Guerriero, who lashes one high into the net.
51th minute: GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!! Goncalo Ramos!!!!!!
This is turning into one of the great World Cup stories. Ramos gets in front of his man to prod him Dalot’s low cross at the near post. On his first international start, in place of the greatest international goalscorer of all time, the 21-year-old has his country romping into the quarter-finals with something to spare.
46th minute: We’re back underway and there’s a change for Switzerland. Schar, who was all over the shop during that first period, has made way for Eray Comert.
Halftime: Switzerland avoid any further damage. Without Ronaldo, Portugal have been simply irresistible. They’re heading for a quarterfinal date with Morocco.
45th minute+3: Portugal play it short and across and Guerriero spanks an ambitious shot over. Given how much Switzerland have struggled from crosses, that feels like a waste.
45th minute+2: A scrambling Schar gives away a corner under pressure from Dalot and Switzerland must see this out.
45th minute: Joao Felix has been absolutely sparkling during this first half. The Atletico Madrid star embarks upon another wonderful run. Fernandes can’t quite pull off a scooped return pass.
43rd minute: Switzerland are all over the place at the back and Sommer does well to stop Ramos from scoring his second.
38th minute: Almost a lifeline for Switzerland. Costa make a bit of a mess of going for Fernandes’ cross from the right. Freuler gets to the loose ball with a header but a combination of the Portugal goalkeeper and Dalot clear their lines.
33rd minute: GOOOOAAAALLLL!!!! Pepe!!!!
And you all thought we’d be seeing no goals from a Portuguese veteran this evening! Fernandes’ corner from the right is inviting, but not to the extent any Switzerland players try to effectively defend it. Pepe powers home to become the second-oldest World Cup goalscorer after Roger Milla.
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32nd minute: Joao Felix whips in a devilish ball from the left. Schar has to act and almost nods into his own net. Corner to Portugal.
30th minute: Ohhh, close. Costa takes no chances, tipping the ball away from his bottom corner. From the resulting set-piece, Switzerland are caught offside at the second phase.
29th minute: Embolo gets the better of Dias, who wraps his arms around him to give away a foul. Shaqiri is standing over the free-kick and likes the look of it.
28th minute: For the mischievously minded among you, Ramos now has more goals in the knockout stages of the World Cup than Ronaldo.
22nd minute: Ramas again. Takes the shot on after a wonderful crossfield ball from Pepe. He probably should have passed to Fernandes inside him, to be honest, but you can’t begrudge him going for glory.
21st minute: Portugal are purring here and so is that man Ramos. He lays into off and Otavio’s bouncing strike is gathered by Sommer.
17th minute: GOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!! Goncalo Ramos!!!!!!!
Oh my word! Hello, narrative! Joao Felix receives a throw-in and feeds the ball to Ramos. Ronaldo’s replacement spins towards goal and, from inside the penalty area at a tight angle, clatters a sensational strike into the near top corner. Cristiano who?
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13th minute: We’ve settled into a bit of an attritional pattern after those early half chances for Fernandes and Embolo. Grab yourselves a coffee.
5th minute: Embolo dribbles across the Portugal box. He’s looking sharp. Pepe gets the block in and it’s a corner to Switzerland.
3rd minute: Dias catches Embolo in the face. Looks slightly painful but the Switzerland forward has made a meal of that one. He’s on his feet again and telling the referee that Dias elbowed him.
2nd minute: Portugal on the front foot. Joao Felix finds Fernandes well-placed in the box but his touch lets him down.
5 mins from kickoff: The teams are out for the anthems, with Ronaldo having already taken his place on the bench. It’s a very, very unfamiliar vantage point on this stage.
35 mins from kickoff: So then, Goncalo Ramos. The 21-year-old Benfica forward has stepped into the void left by Darwin Nunez impressively at club level and has 14 goals in 23 appearances across all competitions this season, including nine in 11 in Portugal’s Primeira Liga. That form was enough to earn him a national team call up for the first time last month, although one in six in the Champions League means he still has something to prove in terms of big-game pedigree. All three of his international caps so far have come from the bench.
1 hr from kickoff: No such drama in the Switzerland XI, with due respect to Edmilson Fernandes, who gets the nod ahead of Silvan Widmer at right-back.
1 hr 15 mins from kickoff: CONFIRMED: Cristiano Ronaldo has been dropped by Portugal! No pressure, Goncalo Ramos…
Elsewhere, Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo also misses out with Diogo Dalot and Raphael Guerriero selected as Portugal’s full-backs.
MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo benched for Portugal World Cup Round of 16 match vs Switzerland
1 hr 25 mins from kickoff: More on that apparently pending Ronaldo bombshell. According to Record Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos is set to get the nod ahead of the all-time leading scorer in international football. The decision comes after Santos said he was displeased by Ronaldo’s reaction after being substituted against South Korea in Portugal’s final group game, where qualification was already secured. Throw in his lack of action and tempestuous exit from Manchester United and the array of quality elsewhere in the Portugal squad, this looks like footballing common sense if you stand back from it. Nevertheless, it remains a huge, huge call.
1 hr 55 mins from kickoff: Reports are emerging in Portugal that Ronaldo might be on the bench this evening. That would be an absolutely huge bombshell from Fernando Santos, who has been such a Ronaldo loyalist over recent years.
2 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: With his goal in a typically feisty encounter against Serbia, Xherdan Shaqiri became the first Swiss player to score in three World Cups. He is also one of only three players to score at each of the past three World Cups alongside the usual suspects of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
2hrs 50 mins from kickoff: Both Portugal and Switzerland will be pretty happy about what’s unfolding in Morocco vs Spain right now. It’s 0-0 and they’d relish playing the winners after a period of extra time. The hour is approaching in that one and you can follow all the action here.
3 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: If Portugal’s World Cup run ends tonight, Ronaldo will turn his attention towards his ongoing period of unemployment. Fear not, there’s apparently a fairly substantial offer on the table…
4 hrs from kickoff: This game will hold no fear whatsoever for a Switzerland side who are one of the most cohesive units in the international game. They’re a generation who have been together for a long time and this is the fifth successive major tournament where they have progressed from the group stage. In the last 16 at Euro 2020 they stunned World Cup champions France before pushing Spain to the brink, eventually losing on penalties.
4 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: We are still some way off the teams being announced for this one, but it seems almost certain that Ronaldo will be in the lineup, despite being rested for the final 25 minutes of the South Korea clash.
5 hrs from kickoff: Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the World Cup knockout rounds and determined to end his post-groups goal drought. He has attempted 25 shots in his career in the latter stages of this tournament, but he is yet to find the net. Can he fire Portugal past Switzerland?
Portugal vs Switzerland lineups, team news
PSG full-back Nuno Mendes looks set to miss the remainder of the World Cup through injury, with clubmate Danilo Pereira also likely sidelined. Coach Fernando Santos is expected to reshuffle his starting options from their 2-1 loss to South Korea, with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias all set to return.
Midfielder Otavio is also back in contention after returning to training following his thigh problem.
Portugal (4-3-2-1): Diogo Costa (GK) — 2. Diogo Dalot, 3. Pepe, 4. Ruben Dias, 5. Raphael Guerriero — 10. Bernardo Silva, 25. Otavio, 14. William Carvalho — 8. Bruno Fernandes, 11. Joao Felix — 25. Goncalo Ramos.
Switzerland coach Murat Yakin will be hoping that first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer recovers from illness. If not, Gregor Kobel will continue to stand in.
Switzerland (4-2-3-1): 1. Sommer (GK) — 2. Fernandes, 22. Schar, 4. Akanji, 13. Rodriguez — 10. Xhaka, 8. Freuler — 23. Shaqiri, 15. Sow, 17. Vargas — 7. Embolo
Portugal vs Switzerland live stream, TV channel
Portugal face Switzerland at the Lusail Stadium on December 6 with kickoff set for 22:00 local time in Qatar.
Here’s how you can watch all the action in some of the major global territories.
Date
Time
TV Channel
Streaming
USA
Tue, Dec. 6
14:00 ET
Fox,Telemundo
fuboTV,Fox Sports site/app,Telemundo Deportes site/app,Peacock
Canada
Tue, Dec. 6
14:00 ET
TSN, CTV, RDS (French)
TSN site/app, CTV appRDS app
UK
Tue, Dec. 6
19:00 GMT
ITV, STV
ITVX, STV Player
Australia
Wed, Dec. 7
06:00 AEDT
SBS
SBS On Demand
India
Wed, Dec. 7
00:30 IST
Sports 18
Voot, JioTV
Hong Kong
Wed, Dec. 7
03:00 HKT
Now TV (Ch. 616, 618)
Now TV
Malaysia
Wed, Dec. 7
03:00 MYT
Astro FIFA World Cup 1
Astro GO
Singapore
Wed, Dec. 7
03:00 SGT
StarHub TV FIFA World Cup, Singtel FIFA World Cup 141
Singtel TV GO, CAST,StarHub TV+, MeWatch
New Zealand
Wed, Dec. 7
08:00 NZDT
Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports
Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW
