After watching Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland enjoy superb starts to the tournament, Ronaldo produced his own star turn to help his team to the brink of a knockout spot, after it had stuttered to a 1-1 draw with DR Congo on matchday one.

Ronaldo's goals came either side of a free-kick from Nuno Mendes, while an unfortunate Abduvokhid Nematov own goal and a crashing finish from substitute Rafael Leao completed the rout in the second half, with Ronaldo passing up several half-chances for his hat-trick. 

After the pre-match build-up was dominated by debates around his role in the team, Ronaldo came out with a point to prove. Having flung himself at Mendes's left-wing cross and seen team-mate Bruno Fernandes go close in the opening exchanges, the 41 year-old made his mark in the sixth minute.

After Pedro Neto showcased some neat footwork on the right flank, Joao Cancelo cut the ball back from the byline towards the near post, where Ronaldo slammed a first-time finish past the helpless Nematov.

Nematov was beaten again 11 minutes later, but in a surprising manner. After Neto was felled by Odiljon Khamrobekov right on the edge of the area, Ronaldo looked primed to take the resulting free-kick. But he was a decoy for Mendes, who fired a low effort into the far corner.

Uzbekistan thought it had halved the arrears with a rocket of a strike from Aziz G'aniev, only for a VAR review to cut its celebrations short as Abbosbek Fayzullaev was deemed to have fouled Cancelo, and Ronaldo swiftly inflicted further punishment.

Having scampered through the centre of the field, the Premier League's leading assister, Fernandes, supplied a pinpoint through-ball to Ronaldo, who slotted into the far corner.

Ronaldo almost had a first-half hat-trick when Abdukodir Khusanov hooked his lobbed effort off the line, while Joao Felix was wayward with two efforts either side of the interval. 

Ronaldo went close again when Nematov smothered his attempt off a clever free-kick routine, but Portugal went 4-0 up from the resulting corner on the hour, with Fernandes's delivery flicking off Khusanov and Nematov before crossing the line.

Another big chance fell Ronaldo's way when Uzbekistan played itself into trouble shortly after the second-half hydration break, but after juggling the ball onto his left foot, he saw his strike beaten away by Nematov.

Ronaldo was also the target of Nelson Semedo's cross in the build-up to Portugal's 87th-minute fifth, and when it was only half cleared to the feet of Leao, he thundered his strike into the top-left corner.