Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Portugal's manager, and his replacement scored the tournament's first hat trick to help the team through to the quarterfinals
- Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped from the starting lineup for Portugal's World Cup Round of 16 match against Switzerland.
- His replacement, 21-year-old Gonçalo Ramos, scored a hat trick in a 6-1 win.
Cristiano Ronaldo's replacement in Portugal's starting lineup, Gonçalo Ramos, scored the first hat trick of the World Cup on Tuesday night in Qatar, as Fernando Santos' side put on a stunning display to beat Switzerland 6-1 and book its place in the tournament's quarterfinals.
Ronaldo, Portugal's record goalscorer, was dropped for the match by manager Santos, who earlier in the day had criticized him for appearing to react angrily to being substituted during Portugal's previous match against South Korea.
Against the Swiss, he was replaced by Ramos, 21, who opened the scoring after just 17 minutes before adding his second shortly after the break.
The Benfica striker then completed his hat trick in the 67th minute, prompting huge celebrations from the Portugal bench, Ronaldo included.
"Not even in my best dreams I thought about being part of the starting XI for the knockout phases," Ramos said after the match.
Asked about replacing Ronaldo, he added: "Cristiano Ronaldo talks to me and everyone in the team. He's our leader and always tries to help."
Portugal and Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes said of Ramos' performance: "I'm really happy for him, because a hat-trick at his age is a really big achievement, and we are really happy for him."
Portugal's performance against the Swiss was a far cry from the display that saw it lose 2-1 to South Korea in its final group match on Friday, and Ronaldo's replacement was at the heart of it.
Before Tuesday, Ramos had played just 33 minutes of international soccer, but his inexperience didn't show as he opened the scoring early on, slamming the ball into the roof of the net from an improbable angle inside the Morocco area.
Veteran defender Pepe scored Portugal's second – in turn becoming the oldest knockout phase goalscorer in World Cup history – before Ramos slotted home again after halftime.
He completed his hat trick with a delicate dinked finish after defender Raphaël Guerreiro had scored Portugal's fourth and Manuel Akanji hit a consolation goal for Switzerland.
Substitute Rafael Leão completed the scoring in stoppage time with a superb curled effort, capping off a memorable night for the 2016 European Champion.
"It was a good performance, a great game," said Santos after the game. "The players are to be congratulated, it was a very good performance at every moment of the game."
Forward João Félix said: "It was a great game for the whole team. We got in right away, playing eye to eye with the opponent. We imposed our football and completely dominated."
Earlier in the day, Morocco pulled off a shock to beat Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout and book its place in its first ever World Cup quarterfinal.
The match at Education City Stadium in Ar Rayyan ended goalless after extra time, and Spain failed to score again in the shootout, with Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou brilliantly saving two.
Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi, who was born and raised in Madrid, scored the winning spot kick.
"It is a tremendous achievement and they were all patched up, they all showed tremendous determination," Morocco manager Walid Regragui said. "We knew we had tremendous support behind us and we drew from that the energy to give that performance tonight."
Among that support was the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, who Regragui said called him after the match.
"It's extraordinary for a Moroccan to receive that call," Regragui said. "He always encourages us and he gives us advice and he calls on us to give our all.
"His message is always the same, he is proud of the players and he is proud of us and as a result we want to go even further and do even better the next time."
Portugal and Morocco will meet in the quarterfinals on Saturday.