Ramos scored for the first time in the 17th minute at the Lusail Stadium before netting two more early in the second half.
Portugal take on Morocco in Saturday’s quarter-final at Doha’s Al Thumama Stadium in their first appearance in the last 16 of the World Cup since 2006.
Ramos’ hat-trick and his smoking gun goal celebrations immediately made him one of the best prospects in the World Cup.
(photo by AFP)
Ramos had never played for Portugal before being selected in the World Cup squad last month. He was given the number 26 shirt in the 26-man squad and only played for a few minutes as a late substitute in Portugal’s group wins over Ghana and Uruguay. He had zero shots on goal in those games.
His first hat-trick at this year’s World Cup was only his fifth in the last three tournaments. One of these was in fact scored by Cristiano Ronaldo four years ago, when he was 33, in a 3-3 group stage draw against Spain.
Ramos scored Portugal’s first goal with a stunning near post shot after 17 minutes and added a double in the 51st minute when he put the ball through the legs of Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer before helping Raphael Guerreiro score the four minutes later.
(Getty Images)
Ramos made his international debut on 17 November this year in a pre-World Cup friendly against Nigeria, coming on as a 67th-minute substitute and scoring immediately after 15 minutes with his fourth goal in a 4-0 win.
The Benfica striker’s hat-trick against Switzerland made him the first player to score a hat-trick in his first World Cup start since Germany’s Miroslav Klose against Saudi Arabia in 2002. Klose holds the record for the most goals ever scored in the World Cup: 16 in 4 editions.
Ramos will return to play for Benfica in the Portuguese league. Led by goals from Ramos, Benfica are unbeaten in both Portugal and the Champions League.
Born in the Algarve, the striker burst onto the scene with Benfica this season having been given an enhanced role at centre-forward following the sale of Darwin Nunez to Liverpool and has scored 14 goals in 21 games in all competitions, adapting quickly to the his new role.
Known for his versatility in playing in different offensive positions, as a striker or second striker, Ramos is nicknamed “O Feitceiro” in Portuguese, which means “The Magician”.
Ramos also played for the Portugal under-17s in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in England and was also in the Portuguese squad that finished runners-up to Spain at the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Armenia.
Ramos’ exemplary ability to attack and create space both inside and outside the penalty area with his movement makes him a potential superstar of the future.
In addition to Ronaldo, Ramos’ role models are Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
