Ronaldo's replacement Ramos hits a hattrick as Portugal steamroll Switzerland
A truly dominant display by Portugal as they put six past Switzerland! They will meet tournament dark horse Morocco next. Read the full report here.
Second Half
92': The Portuguese don't have enough! Leao with a beautiful goal!
89': Jashari replaces Embolo in Switzerland's final change.
87': Rafael Leao replaces Bruno Fernandes, seconds after another Ronaldo chance is well defended.
84': Ronaldo scores on a breakaway, but he doesn't even celebrate - he knows he's well offside.
81': Ruben Neves is in for Bernardo Silva.
80': Embolo tries an overhead kick from the edge of the box, but narrowly misses. That would've been a beautiful consolation goal.
76': Ronaldo gets a free kick but hits one of the four men in the wall.
73': Several changes for Portugal - Ricardo Horta, Vitinha and Cristiano Ronaldo replace the hero Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix and Otavio.
67': HATTRICK FOR GONCALO RAMOS! What a way to make your full international debut, wow! Great final pass by Joao Felix and Ramos neatly chips the ball over Sommer.
66': Okafor replaces Vargas for Switzerland.
59': Comert came on at half time to replace the only man with a yellow card, so now he gets a yellow of his own.
58': And one for Switzerland too! Manuel Akanji finds the ball at the back post to give some hope for his side!
55': ANOTHER ONE! A 3-on-2 breakaway is finished by a brilliant shot by Guerriero, and it's 4-0!
54': Zakaria and Seferovic replace Sow and Freuler for Switzerland.
51': That's some start of the second half for Portugal! Goncalo Ramos scores his second after a brilliant pass by Dalot - it's 3-0!
Change for Switzerland before the second half as Comert replaces Schar, the only player with a yellow card so far.
First Half
That's all she wrote for the first half - Portugal cruising so far even without Ronaldo.
45+3': Guerreiro gets a shot off from the distance, but misses the target.
44': Another header by Pepe spells trouble for miscommunicating Sommer and Akanji, but the Swiss end up clearing the ball anyway.
43': Massive save by Sommer against Ramos who drives the net alone! Fabian Schar then gets a yellow for a previous rough challenge against Felix.
38': Costa makes a save against Switzerland's chance, then Dalot kicks the ball away.
33': TWO-NIL FOR PORTUGAL! Pepe scores with a great header after a corner kick.
32': Joao Felix with a neat cross that's juuust turned away by Schar.
30': Shaqiri takes a brilliant long ranged shot from a free kick, which Costa parries for a corner. That is easily defended.
28': Ruben Dias narrowly escapes a yellow card after bringing down Embolo.
22': Great chance by Portugal, as Ramos drops the ball for Otavio whose shot only finds Sommer's gloves. Then Ramos gets another chance on his own, saved by Sommer.
17': WHAT A SHOT BY GONCALO RAMOS! The youngster scores the opening goal for Portugal! That's some statement from the player chosen to replace Cristiano Ronaldo in the line-up.
15': First Portuguese cross into the box, but it isn't met by anyone.
5': The Swiss get the first corner kick of the match after Pepe's intervention, but it comes to nothing.
1': Switzerland with the kick off and we're underway!
The teams are out of the national anthems. The last quarter finalist is to be decided - will Ronaldo end up being a deciding factor off the bench? We'll see over the next (at least) 90 minutes.
Team News
Portugal XI: Diogo Costa; Dalot, Rúben Dias, Pepe, Cancelo; Otávio, William Carvalho, Bruno Fernandes; Bernardo Silva, Gonçalo Ramos, João Félix.
Switzerland XI: Sommer; Fernandes, Schär, Akanji, Rodríguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas; Embolo.
Introduction
Fernando Santos' men must learn from past mistakes, considering the last two times Portugal made it past the group stage at the World Cup (2010 and 2018), their journey was immediately ended. This side can become history makers however, as only once since 1966 have they reached the last eight and a good omen lies in the fact that the last two times they won their group in a World Cup (1966 and 2006), they reached the semi-finals!
After finishing second to Brazil on goal difference in one of the toughest groups in this tournament, Switzerland will make their third consecutive appearance in the Round of 16, aiming to finally end a run of four straight defeats when they’ve reached this stage. Coach Murat Yakin said after their crucial 3-2 victory over Serbia that the only regret was "the one goal” they needed to win the group, before adding, "we'll gladly take on Portugal with the ambition to worry them as much as possible”.