It is Goncalo Ramos' world, and we are just living in it! The 21-year-old Benfica striker announced himself on the world's biggest stage by getting a piece of history for himself, hitting the first hat-trick of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday for Portugal in the clash with Switzerland.
In a night in Fernando Santos made a bold call by putting Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench for the Selecao's first knockout game, Ramos did not falter at all in filling the big shoes. Having only made sporadic appearances since the start of the competition, the Benfica forward was handed his full debut and was able to repay the faith in him in remarkable fashion.
Nicknamed "O Feiticeiro" ("The Wizard"), Ramos whipped his wand and smashed home the first goal of the game from an almost improbable location to put Portugal ahead in the 17th minute. Moments before the half-time interval, Pepe got a the score sheet to double the feed for Santos' men.
Five minutes after play resumed for the second half, Goncalo Ramos got on the end of Diogo Dalot's low cross from the right flank, toe-poking the ball home to get a brace before securing his hat-trick with a fine finish in the 67th minute. In-between his second and third goals, Rapheal Guerrero registered his name on the scoreboard with Portugal's third goal of the night.
With his contribution, Gonçalo Ramos became the first player to score a hat-trick on his first FIFA World Cup start since Miroslav Klose for Germany in 2002. He is also the first player to register four or more goal involvements in a single World Cup game since Oleg Salenko did so for Russia in 1994 (six vs. Cameroon).
1 - Gonçalo Ramos scored more goals for Portugal in the World Cup knockout stages after 17 minutes (1) than Cristiano Ronaldo has in 514 minutes played in the competition's knockout rounds (0). Vindicated. pic.twitter.com/akYz7qNgvS
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 6, 2022