Who is Goncalo Matias Ramos? Meet The Benfica Forward

What an incredible night Goncalo Ramos had for himself against Switzerland as Portugal hammered their opponents 6-1 in the 2022 World Cup last-16.

Ramos was the name on everyone’s lips ahead of kick-off. Well, technically he was the second name on everyone’s lips because the first name on everyone’s lips was Cristiano Ronaldo.

Portugal’s all-time top scorer was benched by boss Fernando Santos after an incident following a substitution in the final group game against South Korea.

Ramos scored three of Portugal’s six, thereby taking him way past Ronaldo’s record in World Cup knockouts (he has never scored in the World Cup knockouts).

Who is Goncalo Matias Ramos?

Ramos enrolled in the Benfica academy at the age of 13, progressed through the illustrious development system of the club, and made his first-team debut in July 2020, scoring twice. He had been the leading scorer at the U19 European Championships the previous year while playing for Portugal, which placed second.
He has scored five goals in Europe and nine in the Portuguese Primeira Liga so far this season. One of the reasons Benfica was okay with losing Darwin Nunez to Liverpool was because of his progress.

However, a few years ago, when Nunez was on fire and the team also had Ukrainian attacker Roman Yaremchuk, Benfica came dangerously close to losing him. Nelson Verissimo, a former B team manager, was chosen to take Bruno Lage’s place when he quit, and that choice proved essential since he saw Ramos’ potential and provided him with opportunities.

Ramos has thrived under new manager Roger Schmidt for many seasons and has been playing as the team’s key striker in the German’s 4-2-3-1 formation. Ramos, however, is adaptable; he can play wider and performs best when given room to drop deep.

But he has made tremendous progress in front of the goal. Ramos has always had excellent intuition, but these days he’s coming up with new ways to score. Think about the three goals he scored against Switzerland: a power shot, a close-range finish, and a lovely third goal. His ball awareness and mobility have drawn comparisons to Thomas Muller, a German striker. He already has the skill, but if he can improve his finishing, he will pose a serious danger to Portugal for many years to come.

HAT TRICK HERO!! ???

Cristiano Ronaldo is going to struggle to re-gain his spot in the team after this performance… ?#ITVFootball | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/ChntVtONCx

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) December 6, 2022

His first call-up for Portugal, though, didn’t happen until September of this year, when he and Antonio Silva, another young Benfica star, competed to make Santos’ team. They were simply the most recent highlights from Benfica and Portugal’s really insane production line.

The next stage will be an interesting one because, like Nunez, before he departed for Liverpool, Ramos is a terrific player but is still developing. Also, before the World Cup, Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester United were both mentioned in connection with him. Ramos doesn’t need to move quickly, though; he can point to several current Benfica graduates who departed too soon and will make their move.

 

Since Miroslav Klose in 2002, Ramos is the first player to score a hat-trick on their first World Cup start. Although Ramos’ ascent to the top may have occurred a little sooner than anticipated, it seemed inevitable for a very long time. He is one of several athletes that demonstrate to Portugal that there will be life after Ronaldo—a great deal of life. Of course, Portugal will be without their all-time leading scorer, but with men like Ramos on hand, they will be just fine. They will continue to cheer for Ronaldo, but that will also change soon.