Ronaldo scores 53rd hat-trick of his career as Portugal decimates Switzerland in Nations League final

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to give Portugal a 3-1 win over Switzerland in a Nations League semi-final featuring an extraordinary VAR incident on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo blasted Portugal ahead from a free kick in the 25th minute, his first goal for his country for nearly a year, but the Swiss equalised with a penalty kick after halftime which will raise more questions over the use of the VAR system.

After a largely anonymous second half, Ronaldo suddenly sprang to life and scored twice in the last three minutes to complete the 53rd hat-trick of his career and the seventh for his country.

“There’s no adjective to describe him. He’s a genius. You can be a genius in art, and in sculpture and he is a football genius. It was an intense match, very hard-fought, against a very well-organised Swiss team,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos.