Portugal vs Switzerland live: World Cup score, highlights, result from as Cristiano Ronaldo is dropped

By | December 6, 2022
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Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped by Portugal head coach Fernando Santos for the World Cup last-16 encounter with Switzerland.

Ronaldo won his first international title with Portugal at Euro 2016 but, given he turns 38 next year, this is likely to be his final shot at lifting the sport’s biggest prize.

The veteran’s reaction to being substituted against South Korea displeased Santos and Benfica youngster Goncalo Guedes was given the chance to impress at centre-forward.

Switzerland have reached the round of 16 for a third successive World Cup but they are bidding to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since they were tournament hosts in 1954.

The Sporting News is tracking live scoring updates and highlights for Portugal vs Switzerland at the 2022 World Cup. Follow for complete results from the round of 16 match in Qatar.

MORE: How to watch Portugal vs Switzerland

Portugal vs Switzerland score

  1H 2H Final
Portugal 1 — —
Switzerland 0 — —

Goals:
None

Projected lineups:

Portugal lineup (4-3-2-1, right to left): 22. Diogo Costa (GK) — 2. Diogo Dalot, 3. Pepe, 4. Ruben Dias, 5. Raphael Guerriero — 10. Bernardo Silva, 25. Otavio, 14. William Carvalho — 8. Bruno Fernandes, 11. Joao Felix — 25. Goncalo Ramos.

Switzerland lineup (4-2-3-1): 1. Sommer (GK) — 2. Fernandes, 22. Schar, 4. Akanji, 13. Rodriguez — 10. Xhaka, 8. Freuler — 23. Shaqiri, 15. Sow, 17. Vargas — 7. Embolo

MORE: Watch every World Cup match live with fuboTV (U.S.-only free trial)

Portugal vs Switzerland live updates, highlights from 2022 World Cup

17th minute: GOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!! Goncalo Guedes!!!!!!!

Oh my word! Hello, narrative! Joao Felix receives a throw-in and feeds the ball to Guedes. Ronaldo’s replacement spins towards goal and, from just inside the penalty area, clatters a sensational strike into the near top corner. Cristiano who?

13th minute: We’ve settled into a bit of an attritional pattern after those early half chances for Fernandes and Embolo. Grab yourselves a coffee.

5th minute: Embolo dribbles across the Portugal box. He’s looking sharp. Pepe gets the block in and it’s a corner to Switzerland.

3rd minute: Dias catches Embolo in the face. Looks slightly painful but the Switzerland forward has made a meal of that one. He’s on his feet again and telling the referee that Dias elbowed him.

2nd minute: Portugal on the front foot. Joao Felix finds Fernandes well-placed in the box but his touch lets him down.

5 mins from kickoff: The teams are out for the anthems, with Ronaldo having already taken his place on the bench. It’s a very, very unfamiliar vantage point on this stage.

35 mins from kickoff: So then, Goncalo Guedes. The 21-year-old Benfica forward has stepped into the void left by Darwin Nunez impressively at club level and has 14 goals in 23 appearances across all competitions this season, including nine in 11 in Portugal’s Primeira Liga. That form was enough to earn him a national team call up for the first time last month, although one in six in the Champions League means he still has something to prove in terms of big-game pedigree. All three of his international caps so far have come from the bench.

1 hr from kickoff: No such drama in the Switzerland XI, with due respect to Edmilson Fernandes, who gets the nod ahead of Silvan Widmer at right-back.

1 hr 15 mins from kickoff: CONFIRMED: Cristiano Ronaldo has been dropped by Portugal! No pressure, Goncalo Ramos…

Elsewhere, Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo also misses out with Diogo Dalot and Raphael Guerriero selected as Portugal’s full-backs.

MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo benched for Portugal World Cup Round of 16 match vs Switzerland

1 hr 25 mins from kickoff: More on that apparently pending Ronaldo bombshell. According to Record Benfica forward Goncalo Ramos is set to get the nod ahead of the all-time leading scorer in international football. The decision comes after Santos said he was displeased by Ronaldo’s reaction after being substituted against South Korea in Portugal’s final group game, where qualification was already secured. Throw in his lack of action and tempestuous exit from Manchester United and the array of quality elsewhere in the Portugal squad, this looks like footballing common sense if you stand back from it. Nevertheless, it remains a huge, huge call.

1 hr 55 mins from kickoff: Reports are emerging in Portugal that Ronaldo might be on the bench this evening. That would be an absolutely huge bombshell from Fernando Santos, who has been such a Ronaldo loyalist over recent years. 

2 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: With his goal in a typically feisty encounter against Serbia, Xherdan Shaqiri became the first Swiss player to score in three World Cups. He is also one of only three players to score at each of the past three World Cups alongside the usual suspects of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Getty Images

2hrs 50 mins from kickoff: Both Portugal and Switzerland will be pretty happy about what’s unfolding in Morocco vs Spain right now. It’s 0-0 and they’d relish playing the winners after a period of extra time. The hour is approaching in that one and you can follow all the action here.

3 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: If Portugal’s World Cup run ends tonight, Ronaldo will turn his attention towards his ongoing period of unemployment. Fear not, there’s apparently a fairly substantial offer on the table…

4 hrs from kickoff: This game will hold no fear whatsoever for a Switzerland side who are one of the most cohesive units in the international game. They’re a generation who have been together for a long time and this is the fifth successive major tournament where they have progressed from the group stage. In the last 16 at Euro 2020 they stunned World Cup champions France before pushing Spain to the brink, eventually losing on penalties.

4 hrs 30 mins from kickoff: We are still some way off the teams being announced for this one, but it seems almost certain that Ronaldo will be in the lineup, despite being rested for the final 25 minutes of the South Korea clash. 

5 hrs from kickoff: Cristiano Ronaldo is back in the World Cup knockout rounds and determined to end his post-groups goal drought. He has attempted 25 shots in his career in the latter stages of this tournament, but he is yet to find the net. Can he fire Portugal past Switzerland?

Portugal vs Switzerland lineups, team news

PSG full-back Nuno Mendes looks set to miss the remainder of the World Cup through injury, with clubmate Danilo Pereira also likely sidelined. Coach Fernando Santos is expected to reshuffle his starting options from their 2-1 loss to South Korea, with Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Ruben Dias all set to return.

Midfielder Otavio is also back in contention after returning to training following his thigh problem.

Portugal (4-3-2-1): Diogo Costa (GK) — 2. Diogo Dalot, 3. Pepe, 4. Ruben Dias, 5. Raphael Guerriero — 10. Bernardo Silva, 25. Otavio, 14. William Carvalho — 8. Bruno Fernandes, 11. Joao Felix — 25. Goncalo Ramos.

Switzerland coach Murat Yakin will be hoping that first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer recovers from illness. If not, Gregor Kobel will continue to stand in.

Switzerland (4-2-3-1): 1. Sommer (GK) — 2. Fernandes, 22. Schar, 4. Akanji, 13. Rodriguez — 10. Xhaka, 8. Freuler — 23. Shaqiri, 15. Sow, 17. Vargas — 7. Embolo

Portugal vs Switzerland live stream, TV channel

Portugal face Switzerland at the Lusail Stadium on December 6 with kickoff set for 22:00 local time in Qatar.

Here’s how you can watch all the action in some of the major global territories.

  Date Time TV Channel Streaming
USA Tue, Dec. 6 14:00 ET Fox,
Telemundo		 fuboTV,
Fox Sports site/app,
Telemundo Deportes site/app,
Peacock
Canada Tue, Dec. 6 14:00 ET TSN, CTV, RDS (French) TSN site/app, CTV app
RDS app
UK Tue, Dec. 6 19:00 GMT ITV, STV ITVX, STV Player
Australia Wed, Dec. 7 06:00 AEDT SBS SBS On Demand
India Wed, Dec. 7 00:30 IST Sports 18 Voot, JioTV
Hong Kong Wed, Dec. 7 03:00 HKT Now TV (Ch. 616, 618) Now TV
Malaysia Wed, Dec. 7 03:00 MYT Astro FIFA World Cup 1 Astro GO
Singapore Wed, Dec. 7 03:00 SGT StarHub TV FIFA World Cup, Singtel FIFA World Cup 141 Singtel TV GO, CAST,
StarHub TV+, MeWatch
New Zealand Wed, Dec. 7 08:00 NZDT Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports Sky Go, Sky Sport NOW

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