Portugal thrash Nigeria in final World Cup warm-up game

• Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario on target for Portugal

• Fernando Santos fielded an experimental team and gave a debut to Antonio Silva

• Portugal are in Group H along with Uruguay, Korea Republic and Ghana

Portugal hammered Nigeria 4-0 in their final warm-up game before the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar™.

With Cristiano Ronaldo missing the match with illness, Fernandes scored twice in the first half before debutant Golcalo Ramos and the experienced Joao Mario got on the scoresheet after the break.

Coach Fernando Santos rotated his squad and rested regulars such as goalkeeper Diogo Costa, who has trained just once this week, and Joao Cancelo. He gave a debut to young Benfica defender Antonio Silva and the 19-year-old showed plenty of character in a solid performance alongside Ruben Dias.

Later in the game Santos took the opportunity to give some minutes to Pepe, who was making his comeback from injury and had only played three minutes for Porto in the last month.

At full-time, the 43,621 fans inside the Jose Alvalade Stadium gave the team a rousing send off for their journey to Qatar.

On his return to the stadium that used to be his home, Bruno Fernandes put in an inspired performance in the 45 minutes he was on the pitch.

The midfielder, who spent two and a half years with Sporting before joining Manchester United in January 2020, struck a double for Portugal for the third time to move on to 11 goals for the national team.

With 21 goals for Benfica this calendar year, Goncalo Ramos is in the best form of all the strikers in Santos’ squad. The 21-year-old did not disappoint on his Portugal debut and only needed 25 minutes after coming off the bench to open his account for his country, meeting a cross from Raphael Guerreiro to score. He will be a potent option for Santos at the World Cup, particularly if the coach feels he needs some extra firepower in the area.

Portugal-Ghana 24 November, 19:00 Doha time

Portugal-Uruguay 28 November, 22:00 Doha time

Korea Republic-Portugal 2 December, 18:00 Doha time