Who is Goncalo Ramos? the hat trick from portugal

The final game of the 2022 World Cup Round of 16 made headlines before it even started when Portugal head coach Fernando Santos changed his line-up for the game against Switzerland.

Legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo was left on the bench, causing fans to get a peek at Portugal's new look for their knockout round tie against all-European opponents.

Poster while Ronaldo is the focus of the news, young forward Goncalo Ramos is the beneficiary of the move, filling in for Ronaldo in Portugal's attack.

With just 34 minutes of international experience to his name before kickoff, Ramos was a central figure in the match, scoring the opener and putting Portugal ahead in the first half as they searched for a place in the quarter-finals. He would bag a hat-trick before the night was over, plus an assist too, en route to the loss to Switzerland.

The three goals marked the first hat-trick for any player at the 2022 World Cup. In the 73rd minute, he would give Cristiano Ronaldo a standing ovation, and while the ovation was far more for his replacement than for him, the youngster would not care because he had a day to remember at the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

Who is Goncalo Ramos?

Born in June 2001 in Olhao, Portugal, Goncalo Ramos has played for Benfica throughout his career to date, joining the club's youth system in 2013 at the age of 12.

Ramos scored for the club's B team, earning promotion to the senior squad at the start of the 2021/22 season. He made his Champions League debut against Spartak Moscow, but he struggled to get any playing time behind Darwin Nunez and Roman Yaremchuk.

With Nunez moving to Liverpool, Ramos has flourished this year, scoring an incredible 14 goals and assisting six assists through 23 games in all competitions this season, ahead of the 2022 World Cup break.

Leading up to the World Cup, Ramos had just one international appearance but came on as a substitute in the first two group games. By the time he replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the starting lineup against Switzerland, Ramos had collected just three caps for a total of 34 minutes of action.

Goncalo Ramos' first goal vs. Switzerland in the last 16 of the World Cup
Fernando Santos made it clear with his starting lineup against Switzerland that if you are good enough, you are old enough to start in Portugal.

Goncalo Ramos repaid that faith by scoring the opener in sensational fashion, slotting the ball from a very tight angle with his left foot past the helpless goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who could only watch the ball sizzle into the top corner.

The goal made Ramos the second-youngest goalscorer for Portugal at a World Cup, behind the player he replaced in the starting lineup, Cristiano Ronaldo. It also means that Ramos has more World Cup knockout stage goals than Ronaldo, whose eight World Cup goals all came in the group stage.

Goncalo Ramos' second goal vs. Switzerland in the last 16 of the World Cup
Ramos wasn't done yet, and with Cristiano Ronaldo warming up on the sidelines to a standing ovation, Ramos doubled his total after halftime.

The second featured a simpler finish than the first, sliding through the area to meet full-back Diogo Dalot's cross and poke it past the legs of Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

Goncalo Ramos' hat trick vs. Switzerland in the Round of 16 of the World Cup
With the crowd chanting "Ronaldo! Ronaldo!" in Qatar, Goncalo Ramos made it a night, securing his hat-trick in the 66th minute.

He refused to slow down, hit a back-post run, and latched on to Joao Felix's through ball before producing a spectacular finish to beat the attacking Yann Sommer.