World Cup LIVE: Swiss hit for six as new star is born, Ronaldo denies Saudi move

The quarter-final matches are all locked in.

That’s it from us today. Thanks as always for your company. We’ll be back on Saturday morning from 6am when the Netherlands face Argentina for a spot in the final four. That match will follow tournament favourites Brazil looking to book their place at the expense of 2018 finalists Croatia.

On Sunday we’ll be blogging the France-England clash, which comes after the clash between Morocco and Portugal.

I won’t be back until the semi-finals next week. So I’ll leave you with my tournament prediction from here. Brazil beat Portugal in the final after the latter take advantage of a draining France-England clash which finishes 3-3 and goes to extra time, if not further.

The possible upset? The Netherlands over Argentina and Messi. But that will be as far as they go.

Feel free to sledge me when I’m wrong. Until then, get some sleep, and thanks again.

Australia’s dream run in Qatar may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hitch a ride on a different bandwagon.

Vince Rugari has run the rule over the World Cup quarter-finalists.

Louis van Gaal, Jude Bellingham, Lionel Messi and Luka Modric.Credit: Getty

Read his full piece here.

How good is this?

Moroccan fans celebrate in Milan.Credit: LaPresse

If you’re just joining us, Morocco earlier this morning became the first country from the Arab world to qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals when they eliminated Spain on penalties.

Catch up with all that went down here.

Cristiano Ronaldo has denied that he has agreed to join Saudi club Al Nassr after Portugal’s World Cup adventure.

The striker became a free agent after being released from his Manchester United contract last month and reports have claimed Ronaldo has agreed an extraordinarily lucrative deal to play in Saudi Arabia.

Fans clamour for a glimpse of Ronaldo after Portugal’s emphatic World Cup win.Credit: AP

Suggestions of a bumper contract offer from the Saudi Pro League club emerged last week, with Ronaldo said to be in line to earn well over £100 million ($A181m) a year.

However, the 37-year-old says the reports of him signing a deal with Al Nassr are wrong.

Speaking after coming off the bench in a rare substitute appearance for his country, Ronaldo was asked about the move.

“No, it’s not true,” he said.

Ronaldo was just as short when breezing through the post-match interview area with a huge grin on his face and only responding to one question: Was he happy?

“Of course, of course,” the superstar grinned. “Portugal won.”

DPA/AP

Death, taxes and ...

Unfortunately, France have already bucked this trend.

Portugal’s Goncalo Ramos was as surprised as anyone at being named in the starting line-up for the 6-1 hammering of Switzerland.

Making his first World Cup start, Ramos smashed three goals past the Swiss and set up another to propel Portugal into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

He shoots, he scores. Goncalo Ramos.Credit: AP

Ramos, 21, made headlines before kick-off when picked by Fernando Santos to lead the attack in place of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was relegated to the bench.

“I think not even in my wildest dreams I thought about being in the starting 11 for the knockout phase,” Ramos said, smiling.

Asked if Ronaldo spoke to him before the game, Ramos said the issue of him being benched did not come up among the players.

“Honestly, in our team, no one talked about it. Cristiano as our captain, as he always did, he helped us, he gave encouragement to us, not only to myself, but our teammates.”

The Benfica striker’s treble 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.

Ramos said it was too soon to know if he would get a start in the quarter-finals against Morocco on Saturday (Sunday 2am AEDT).

Asked who his role models were, he said: “Cristiano Ronaldo was one of them,” together with Robert Lewandowski and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He has clearly been watching them closely.

Reuters

Midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri has apologised to Swiss fans after they were dumped out of the World Cup in humiliating fashion.

Portugal coach Fernando Santos benched Cristiano Ronaldo and was rewarded with a far slicker and more artful display from his team than anything they had shown in the group stages as Switzerland were outplayed in every part of the pitch.

“Today we have to apologise to all Switzerland fans in the name of the team. That was not our true face tonight,” Shaqiri said.

A dejected Xherdan Shaqiri.Credit: Getty

“We’re very disappointed. We were shown our limits tonight. The coach gave us a plan but it did not work out for us. We lost the game already in the first half and were always a step too late.”

Swiss coach Murat Yakin, whose contract with the national team runs for two more years, said Portugal had caught his side by surprise.

“We must accept this defeat and congratulate Portugal,” he said. They were the best team this evening. They surprised us.”

“We lost a game today but that doesn’t mean we have to be too pessimistic and criticise everything. The team has shown great team spirit.

“But this defeat hurts. The score and the manner of the loss sadden me.”

Switzerland have not reached the last eight at the World Cup since 1954.

Reuters

The quarter-final matches are all locked in.