Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal captain scores hat-trick to reach Nations League final
- Published
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning hat-trick during their Nations League semi-final against Switzerland on Wednesday to beat their opponents 3-1.
Ronaldo scored one of his trademark free-kicks to open the scoring before Switzerland's Ricardo Rodriguez equalised from the penalty spot.
However, the Juventus striker scored two more in the last minutes of the game to reach an incredible tally of 53 hat-tricks for club and country.
The 3-1 victory means Portugal will face either the Netherlands or England in the final on Sunday.
What is the Nations League?
The Nations League is a new international tournament in which European football nations compete against each other in a league format.
WATCH: We all know that friendly matches can be a little boring
They are matched in groups against countries of a similar level.
Like in normal league football, teams that do well can be promoted from one level to another and those that do badly can be knocked down a level.
The teams at the top level who who get the most points will play in the Final Four summer event in 2019.
The winner will be crowned the Nations League champion and will get a fancy trophy.
There are also four places at the 2020 European Championships up for grabs.