Four goals in the 6-0 demolition of Andorra in Aveiro included Ronaldo’s 42nd hat-trick. His first two goals came in the opening four minutes to put the Euro 2016 champions in total control.
João Cancelo (Valencia) added a third before Ronaldo slotted home another brace with André Silva making it six against an Andorran side that had two players sent-off.
Portugal rounded off the international break with another straightforward victory over the Faroe Islands in Tórshavn.
FC Porto’s rising young star André Silva continued his spectacular start to life with the senior side, scoring three first half goals as Portugal climbed to second place in their World Cup qualifying group.
The visitors made a lethargic start to the match with several misplaced passes in the opening minutes but struck on the counter with their first meaningful chance of the game in the twelfth minute.
Cristiano Ronaldo, with a simple flick of the heel, released João Mário who found André Silva. The young FC Porto striker placed his finish out of reach of the onrushing Gunnar Nielsen for the first of his three goals in a twenty-five minute spell. Another link up between Mário and Ronaldo resulted in Portugal’s fourth goal of the match.
A simple interchange between the two, freed Ronaldo to rack up his fifth goal in two games and his 66th goal in 135 games for his country. Moutinho added the icing on the cake with a well-struck goal from outside the box after being set-up by Gelson.
The Sporting winger notched another assist just moments later when he played in Cancelo with a slide-rule pass that the Valencia full-back finished off with the last kick of the game.
Though not a classic display of attacking football, Portugal were more than efficient with major contributions from João Mário, André Silva and again Ronaldo.
Switzerland defeated Andorra to remain top of Group B on nine points while Hungary earned their first win of the qualification campaign.
Portugal will finish the calendar year on 13 November when they play Latvia at the Algarve Stadium, Faro.