The midfielder, who is on loan at Chelsea from Juventus, began on the bench and was introduced early in the second half of a 6-1 defeat by Portugal.

Zakaria’s on-pitch action in Qatar prior to this game had been 20 minutes at the end as the Swiss saw out a win against Serbia in their final group game, so it was no surprise when he was named among the subs again, unlike the big news before kick-off.

In a selection decision by Portugal coach Fernando Santos, Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped to the bench and it was the player chosen up front instead, 21-year-old Goncalo Ramos, who put his side ahead early in the game and would go on to score the first hat-trick of the tournament.

The Benfica striker on his first international start began his scoring with an extraordinary goal, hitting the roof of the net just under the crossbar from an acute angle on the left.

For Switzerland, Xherdan Shaqiri went close with a free-kick before Pepe headed Portugal 2-0 ahead from a corner.

A good save prevented Goncalo Ramos scoring his second before half-time but he did find the net from close range after the restart, with full-back Raphael Guerreiro adding the fourth.

Zakaria had been brought on with 54 minutes played, moments before it became 4-0 and not much earlier than when Switzerland pulled one back from a corner, Manuel Akanji the scorer.

It was not a surprise when Portugal restored their four-goal advantage when Goncalo Ramos finished a good move to complete a memorable night for the young player. He was replaced by Ronaldo soon after.

Zakaria had a shot blocked before the end but by that stage there was far too much for the Swiss to do. Rafael Leao, who played for AC Milan against Chelsea this season, came off the bench to make it 6-1 and end the scoring.