LUSAIL, Qatar — A chant of “RONALDO! RONALDO!” swept around the biggest stadium at the World Cup, followed by loud jeers when the fans realized their idol wasn’t coming onto the field.

Cristiano Ronaldo was, in fact, sitting in the dugout, looking glum and still wearing a substitute’s bib. And the guy who started instead of him on Tuesday was about to score a hat trick.

After Ronaldo was dropped from the starting lineup in a bold call by Portugal Coach Fernando Santos, Goncalo Ramos – the superstar striker’s unlikely replacement – made himself an instant star by leading the team to a 6-1 win over Switzerland and into the World Cup quarterfinals.

Ramos, a 21-year-old forward who only made his Portugal debut last month, demonstrated the kind of clinical finishing Ronaldo was once known for in scoring the first goal in the 17th minute and adding others in the 51st and 67th.

By then, fans around the 89,000-seat Lusail Stadium were imploring Santos to bring on the 37-year-old Ronaldo. They got their wish in the 72nd minute. Portugal had the game wrapped up by then, with defenders Pepe and Raphael Guerreiro also having scored. Rafael Leao added another goal in stoppage time.

After briefly celebrating with his teammates following the final whistle, Ronaldo walked off the field on his own – perhaps wondering where his career goes from here. He is currently without a club after leaving Manchester United midway through the World Cup.

The rest of the Portugal team hung around to applaud the team’s fans at one end of the stadium. A quarterfinal match awaits against Morocco on Saturday and Santos now has to decide whether to stick with Ramos or restore Ronaldo, the top scorer in men’s international soccer and one of the game’s greatest ever players.

Ronaldo was dropped a day after Santos expressed his unhappiness at the striker’s attitude after he was substituted against South Korea in the team’s final group game.

Ramos was a surprise replacement – he had previously only made three substitute appearances for Portugal – and took his chance.

Ramos, who was only 2 years old when Ronaldo made his Portugal debut in 2003, produced the first hat trick at this year’s World Cup. He also did something Ronaldo has never achieved – score a knockout goal at soccer’s biggest tournament.

MOROCCO BEATS SPAIN IN SHOOTOUT: Morocco became the first Arab nation and only the fourth African nation to advance to the World Cup quarterfinals, beating Spain 3-0 in a penalty shootout in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

Achraf Hakimi, who was born in Madrid and previously played for Real Madrid, converted the deciding penalty in the shootout. Abdelhamid Sabiri and Hakim Ziyech, who returned to the national team after a dispute with the previous coach, also scored for Morocco.

Pablo Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets missed their penalties for Spain, with Sarabia hitting the post and Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopping the other two.

The teams drew 0-0 in regulation and extra time.

Sarabia had entered the match in the final minutes of extra time, apparently for the shootout. He replaced Nico Williams, who had also come in as a substitute earlier in the match.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simón stopped the penalty by Badr Banoun. Simón’s counterpart, Bounou, plays for Spanish club Sevilla.

Morocco has been the biggest surprise of the tournament and will next face Portugal.

Morocco is also the only team from outside Europe or South America to make it to the last eight. The team made the round of 16 once before, at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

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