Cristiano Ronaldo rampant as Portugal breeze past Hungary

Cristiano Ronaldo struck a double as Portugal kept their World Cup qualification hopes on course with a 3-0 victory over Hungary in a one-sided Group B clash in Lisbon.

The Real Madrid forward rifled in his first as part of a four-minute goal blitz in the first period after Andre Silva had broken the visitors' resistance with a neat opener just past the half hour.

Ronaldo then crashed home a trademark free kick in the second half to seal the win and take his overall tally for his country to 70.

The European champions knew they could not afford any slip after leaders Switzerland had maintained their 100 per cent record with a 1-0 success over Latvia earlier in the evening - and they responded after a slow start to comfortably consolidate second spot in the pool.

Fernando Santos' men are now five points clear of third-placed Hungary and just three behind the Swiss, with only the side finishing at the summit guaranteed a place at next year's finals in Russia.

Portugal have found a goal poacher. A criticism of Portugal's so-called 'golden generation' was the lack of an out-and-out goalscorer. This side have Ronaldo but he has often had to carry the burden on his own. Now, they have 21-year-old Andre Silva. He has netted five goals in six appearances for his country and is developing a partnership with Ronaldo that is helping A Selecao to put opponents to the sword. Switzerland still have to come to Portugal in the group and you wouldn't bet against Ronaldo and Co finishing top of the pile and avoiding a play-off scenario.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - Still his country's main man. Rifled in a thumping second before lashing home a thunderous free kick. Barely got out of second gear but still a cut above the rest.

PORTUGAL: Patricio 6; Cedric 8, Pepe 7, Fonte 7, Guerreiro 8; Quaresma 8, Carvalho 7, Gomes 7, Joao Mario 7; Ronaldo 9, Silva 8. Subs: Bernardo 6, Moutinho n/a, Pizzi.

HUNGARY: Gulacsi 6, Lang 6, Korhut 7, Vinicius 6, Kadar 6, Gyurcso 6, Bese 6, Gera 6, Nagy 6, Dzsudzsak 6, Szalai 6. Subs: Lovrencsics 6, Kalmar 5, Pinter n/a..

20' - PORTUGAL CHANCE! Quaresma somehow finds Ronaldo with a deflected cross to the far post, but the forward's header flies wide.

32' - GOAL! PORTUGAL 1-0 HUNGARY. Andre Silva taps home at the far post after Guerreiro had put it on a plate for him with a lovely low ball in from the left. Ronaldo had opened up the defence with a probing run and pass to the flank.

36' - GOAL! PORTUGAL 2-0 HUNGARY. It's two! Ronaldo rifles a low drive into the bottom corner from 18 yards after a lovely flick into his path from Silva.

65' - GOAL! PORTUGAL 3-0 HUNGARY. Ronaldo thunders a stunning 30-yard free kick from the left edge of the box into the far corner. Game over.

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 15 goals in 14 international games for his country since the start of 2016.

Ronaldo scored his 70th international goal (in 137 apps) and is now outright fourth on the all-time scorers list for European nations.

Ronaldo is the only player to score with his right foot, left, head & from the penalty spot & from outside the box in qualifying for World Cup 2018.

Ronaldo has netted eight goals in his last three home appearances for Portugal, equal to his tally in 12 home matches prior to this run.