With Cristiano Ronaldo benched, his replacement has scored the first hat-trick of the Qatar World Cup as Portugal locked up the last quarterfinal spot with a 6-1 demolition of Switzerland.

Gonçalo Ramos was starting his first game for Portugal, replacing Ronaldo after he was axed from the starting line-up by manager Fernando Santos, and the 21-year-old scored the opening goal of the match and completed the first hat-trick of the tournament when his third went in in the 67th minute.

Ronaldo eventually got on the pitch in the 74th minute and even found the back of the net, but his mistimed run left him clearly offside so the goal was struck off.

Despite the drama surrounding the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Portugal put together an impressive performance to reach a last-eight clash with Morocco.

Earlier, the north African saide reached the quarterfinals for the first time after a heroic performance from goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to oust 2010 winners Spain.

They were tied 0-0 after extra time and went to penalties, but the Spaniards could not find the net once, with one shot hitting the post and two others brilliantly saved by Sevilla keeper Bounou.

Look back at the last day of round-of-16 matches in our live blog.

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Today’s games in Qatar

By Jon Healy

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Well say goodbye

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 9:19pm

By Jon Healy

Cristiano Ronaldo hangs his head after Portugal's 6-1 Qatar World Cup win over Switzerland.
(AP)

I’ll bid you farewell after a thoroughly interesting match that makes the rest of the tournament even more intriguing.

There’s plenty more to say about that game, and we’ll have extended coverage on abc.net.au/sport, so make sure you head there now and bookmark or just constantly refresh the page for all the latest.

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Ronaldo wastes no time getting off the field

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 9:02pm

By Jon Healy

Key Event

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo in congratulated by Switzerland's Granit Xhaka after their Qatar World Cup match.
If you looked at this picture out of context, which of the two would you assume just won 6-1 at the World Cup?(Getty)

Wowee. Obviously there are always a lot of eyes on Cristiano Ronaldo, but he barely smiled after full-time and he’s just walked immediately off the field and straight up the tunnel as his team celebrated and acknowledged the fans on a half lap of honour.

Craig Foster says on SBS that by holding Ronaldo back until the 74th minute, Fernando Santos “pretty much killed” Ronaldo’s chances of getting a goal because the team wasn’t really surging by that point.

Cristiano Ronaldo applauds fans after Portugal's win over Switzerland at the Qatar World Cup. Two cameramen follow him.
He briefly acknowledged the fans, but he was up the tunnel a long time before his teammates.(AP)

They also hooked Joao Felix, who was creating in the middle, at the same time.

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FULL-TIME: Portugal beats Switzerland 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:54pm

By Jon Healy

Key Event

Switzerland's Edimilson Fernandes walks away as Portugal celebrates at the Qatar World Cup.
(Getty)

That was a brilliant performance and surely makes them one of the favourites heading into the quarters.

Fernando Santos was completely vindicated in his decision to bench superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, with Goncalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick in his first start for Portugal.

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Felix Leao has scored a stunner off the bench

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:53pm

By Jon Healy

This sub is rapid and he broke down the left, cut back inside and curled one perfectly into the bottom right corner of the net.

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87′ More chances for Ronaldo go begging

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:47pm

By Jon Healy

There was a ball over the top and he was winding up the searing volley, but the Swiss defence cleared in time.

And then a cross from Rafael Leao flies over his head.

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84′ Ronaldo finds the back of the net, but he’s miles offside

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:45pm

By Jon Healy

The entire stadium buzzes with excitement as Granit Xhaka loses the ball in midfield and the ensuing through ball is only just out of Ronaldo’s reach.

Then he does get the ball crossing halfway and gets through to finish past Yann Sommer, but he was so far offside. He really didn’t even seem to be trying to time his run.

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80′ Breel Embolo tries something spectacular

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:41pm

By Jon Healy

It wasn’t a bad effort either, receiving the ball from Xherdan Shaqiri at the top of the box, flicking it up to himself and going for the bicycle kick, but sending it wide.

Why not try fun stuff at this point?

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75′ Bernardo Silva earns a free-kick in a great spot and guess who’s lining up

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:36pm

By Jon Healy

The crowd realises what it means, as Cristiano Ronaldo takes his steps back and strikes that familiar power stance.

And he belts it straight into the wall.

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Cristiano Ronaldo finally gets on the field in the 73rd minute

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:33pm

By Jon Healy

Key Event

Portugal's Pepe puts the captain's armband onto Cristiano Ronaldo during their Qatar World Cup match against Switzerland.
(Getty)

Pepe hands over the captain’s armband and there’s an enormous cheer as Cristiano Ronaldo comes onto the field.

He’s part of a three-man change, coming on for Joao Felix.

Goncalo Ramos and Otavio also leave the game, with Ricardo Horta and Vitinha coming on.

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69′ Bruno Fernandes almost gets on the board

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:31pm

By Jon Healy

Raphael Guerreiro had to volley in his cross from the left wing and it was just off target, too far in front of Bruno Fernandes for him to get a boot to it.

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Goncalo Ramos has a hat-trick in his first start for Portugal!

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:27pm

By Jon Healy

Key Event

Portugal is running through Switzerland at will now.

Again Joao Felix played provider after a long ball forward out of defence, and Ramos had plenty of time to assess things as Yann Sommer came out at him, just coolly popping the ball over the onrushing keeper.

I believe that’s the first hat-trick of this World Cup.

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66′ Shaqiri sends a ball into orbit

4h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:26pm

By Jon Healy

Xherdan Shaqiri sends a ball into orbit from the right wing. I haven’t seen many shots at goal miss worse than that.

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62′ The fans want Ronaldo

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:23pm

By Jon Healy

Qatar World Cup fans watch Cristiano Ronaldo warm up on the sidelines of Portugal's match against Switzerland.
(Getty)

It sounds like every fan in the Lusail Iconic Stadium is chanting “RONALDO! RONALDO! RONALDO!”

A lot of them surely bought tickets hoping to see him star, but he’s just been sitting down all game.

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Switzerland gets one back

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:19pm

By Jon Healy

Manuel Akanji high-fives Switzerland teammates after a goal in the Qatar World Cup match against Portugal.
Fair to say the celebrations were muted.(Getty)

Defender Manuel Akanji gets Switzerland’s first-ever knockout goal, lurking at the far post off a corner, and Ramos header just skidded right to his feet and he finished off the outside of his right boot for a close-range tap-in.

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Another one for Portugal! 4-0!

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:15pm

By Jon Healy

Bruno Fernandes and Raphael Guerreiro slide on their knees to celebrate a Qatar World Cup goal against Switzerland.
(Getty)

Joao Felix again created that with his speed around halfway, finding Goncalo Ramos in the middle at the top of the box, and he went wider to Raphael Guerreiro, who rocketed a ball past Yann Sommer from the left.

This has the potential to get seriously ugly.

Switzerland had made two changes to the midfield just before that goal, and they certainly looked out of sorts there.

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Ramos at the double! Portugal is unstoppable at 3-0

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:10pm

By Jon Healy

The ball hits the back of the net as Portugal's Goncalo Ramos runs off in celebration during their World Cup match.
Goncalo Ramos now has two more World Cup knockout goals than Cristiano Ronaldo.(Getty)

After an attempted ball over the top to Goncalo Ramos was just barely nodded away, Diogo Dalot reloaded on the right wing and sent a low ball in to the near post, where Goncalo Ramos managed to get a toe on it and in past Yann Sommer.

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49′ Switzerland clears the corner

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:09pm

By Jon Healy

Defender Fabian Schaer was subbed off at half-time for Eray Comert.

And the back line looked sturdy as they cleared that corner to avoid going 3-0 down.

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46′ Second half is underway

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:06pm

By Jon Healy

Will we see Cristiano Ronaldo in this second half?

Cristian Ronaldo stands on the sidelines next to Portugal manager Fernando Santos during their Qatar World Cup match against Switzerland.
(Getty)
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Half-time stats

5h agoTue 6 Dec 2022 at 8:00pm

By Jon Healy

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