Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates his third goal against Faroe islands. (Reuters Photo)
Paris, September 1 (AFP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to propel Portugal to victory over the Faroe Islands while France cruised to a 4-0 win over 10-man Netherlands in a key 2018 World Cup qualifier on Thursday.
Currently serving a five-match ban in Spain with Real Madrid, Ronaldo showed no signs of ring-rustiness as he opened the scoring in Portugal's 5-1 win over the Faroe Islands in Oporto with an acrobatic volley inside three minutes.
He scored a penalty and went on to complete his hat-trick to make it 14 goals in this qualifying campaign and 78 international goals in 144 appearances for his country – surpassing the great Pele, who scored 77 for Brazil.
The reigning European champions, for whom William Carvalho and Nelson Oliveira also scored, are still three points behind Group B leaders Switzerland, whose 3-0 defeat of Andorra maintained their perfect record.
At the Stade de France, Antoine Griezmann put the home side ahead inside 14 minutes before Kevin Strootman's sending-off led to the Dutch being overwhelmed in the final half hour.
Thomas Lemar scored twice, the first from a stunning volley, and Kylian Mbappe capped an already memorable day on a personal level by netting his first international goal at the death.
A far superior French side are firmly back on track in their quest to make it to Russia next year after their shock 2-1 defeat in Sweden in June. This result, coupled with Sweden's 3-2 defeat in Bulgaria, leaves Les Bleus three points clear at the top of qualifying Group A.
Meanwhile, after failing to make it to the 24-team Euro on French soil last year, the Netherlands are in a battle even to finish second and grab a place in the two-legged play-offs in November.
Dick Advocaat's side are fourth, three points behind second-placed Sweden with three qualifiers remaining, including a meeting with the Swedes in Amsterdam in October.
France should top the section and Deschamps has enough quality at his disposal for his team to be genuine contenders to win the World Cup.
In Group H, PSG's Thomas Meunier and Romelu Lukaku both scored hat-tricks in Belgium's 9-0 drubbing of minnows Gibraltar that leaves them six points clear of Greece, held 0-0 by Estonia.
