The hosts did not feel the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo due to a positive Coronavirus (COVID-19) test. Ronaldo remained in quarantine and they proved more than equal to the task.

William Carvalho could have given the home side the lead in the opening minutes, but his header came back off a post and bounced away to safety, while Sweden’s defence struggled to deal with Portugal’s pace and precision.

Silva opened scoring in the 21st minute, as Portugal won the ball back in the middle of the field and quickly countered, with Jota firing a pinpoint pass to Silva in the penalty area for a perfect first-time finish.

Marcus Berg went close to equalising for Sweden with a powerful shot which hit the post, but the more the Swedes attacked, the more vulnerable they were to Portugal’s lightning-quick counter-attacks.

Jota got on the scoresheet just before halftime, lashing home Joao Cancelo’s cross from deep on the right to make it 2-0.

He added a superb third with a solo run and thumping shot in the 71st minute.

Sweden coach Janne Andersson will miss his side’s next game against Croatia, following his second yellow card of the tournament, issued after the 57-year-old expressed his frustration with refereeing decisions that went against his team.

With 10 points from four games, Portugal top League A Group 2 on goal difference ahead of France, who beat Croatia 2-1 in Zagreb.

The Swedes are bottom of the group, after slumping to four straight defeat.

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The countries’ federations ratified an agreement “to promote the joint candidacy for the organisation of the World Cup in 2030, establishing strategies for the international projection of both federations and countries”, the RFEF said in a statement.

The federations, which signed the agreement before a friendly between their national teams in Lisbon, had began analysing the possibility of a joint bid last year.

“Few things can generate more hope and anticipation that the opportunity to organise a World Cup (present) and we can’t think of a better companion than Portugal,” said RFEF president Luis Rubiales.

Spain hosted the 1982 World Cup and launched a failed bid along with Portugal to stage the 2018 tournament which was awarded to Russia.

Portugal has never staged the World Cup but did hold the 2004 European Championship.

Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay have announced they will make a four-way bid which could have sentimental value as Uruguay hosted the inaugural World Cup in 1930.

The UK’s four associations are contemplating a joint bid along with Ireland while Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Romania are also planning a joint bid.

The bidding process formally starts in 2022 with FIFA to choose the hosts in 2024.

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Bruno Fernandes broke the deadlock in the 39th minute and Ronaldo wrapped it up with four minutes left to ensure that Portugal finished second in Group B with 17 points, three ahead of Serbia who drew 2-2 with Ukraine.

Diogo Jota’s shot appeared to be going in any way but Ronaldo prodded it over to claim the goal.

He is one short of joining Iran’s Ali Daei, the only player to have scored a century of goals for a national team.

“I would have been very proud to have scored my first goal for the national team, but the important thing is we won.

“It doesn’t matter who scores — we are in the Euros and that is what we wanted,” Jota said.

Portugal survived several early scares as they struggled to impose their game on a rain-soaked pitch full of divots at the Josy Barthel stadium.

Ronaldo, in particular, was not enjoying the conditions and gestured angrily at the pitch after sending a speculative wide in the first half.

Needing a win to qualify without having to worry about Serbia’s result, Portugal were in trouble early on as Luxembourg saw a chance to spring an upset.

Maurice Deville got above his marker and headed over from Laurent Jans’ cross and Vincent Thill, a thorn in Portugal’s side, had a goalbound shot blocked by Ruben Dias.

Luxembourg were even closer when a corner found Gerons Rodrigues unmarked but he headed over.

Portugal began to adapt to the conditions and their more direct approach was rewarded with a goal.

Bernardo Silva floated a pass over the Luxembourg defence from deep inside his own half and into the path of Fernandes who took it superbly in his stride and fired a low shot between Anthony Moris and the near post.

The second half was more comfortable for Portugal as they dominated possession although there still anxious moments.

Ronaldo nearly sealed it when he curled a free kick narrowly wide from the edge of the area.

With four minutes left, Silva’s cross found Jota and Moris got a hand to it but could not stop it crossing the line and Ronaldo poked it home for good measure.

“We won’t be favourites but we are going there to win,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos, whose side also won the inaugural Nations League this year.

“We are not the prettiest team but we have won two European tournaments in the last four years.”

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Ronaldo blasted Portugal ahead from a free kick in the 25th minute, his first goal for his country for nearly a year.

But the Swiss equalised with a penalty kick after halftime which will raise more questions over the use of the VAR system.

After a largely anonymous second half, Ronaldo suddenly sprang to life.

He scored twice in the last three minutes to complete the 53rd hat-trick of his career and the seventh for his country.

By this, the Juventus player showed that even at 34 he is always a threat.

His goals — his first for his country since last year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia — rescued Portugal.

This was after the Swiss had dominated for the final half hour and threatened to snatch a shock win.

“There’s no adjective to describe him,” said Portugal coach Fernando Santos. “He’s a genius. You can be a genius in art, and in sculpture and he is a football genius.”

“It was an intense match, very hard-fought, against a very well-organised Swiss team,” he added.

Swiss coach Vladimir Petkovic was left to rue a missed opportunity.

“We had the chance to get a second but didn’t take it. We got outnumbered at the back and conceded. Their top player made the difference,” he said.

Switzerland created some early openings while Ronaldo missed a good early chance for Portugal when he dragged his shot wide after the Swiss gave away possession in defence.

But there was no mistake in the 25th minute when he went down under a challenge from Kevin Mbabu on the edge of the area.

He got up to send his free kick fizzing past a wrong-footed Sommer and into the net.

Switzerland got back into the match in extraordinary circumstances after half-time

Swiss midfielder Steven Zuber went down under a challenge from Nelson Semedo as he ran onto Xherdan Shaqiri’s through ball and appealed for a penalty kick, but play still continued.

Portugal then went straight down the other end and were awarded a penalty kick for a foul on Silva.

The referee, after consulting the video assistant, then decided to review the Swiss incident on the pitchside monitor and awarded them the spot kick.

The incident seemed to unsettle Portugal and the Swiss took control with Shaqiri at the centre of their best moves.

He was looking to make an impression after getting limited playing time for Liverpool this season.

Steven Zuber and Haris Seferovic both missed chances and the Swiss were then destroyed by Ronaldo at his most deadly.

Bernardo Silva produced a low cross from the right and Ronaldo swept the ball home with his first touch to rescue his side in the 88th minute.

Two minutes later, he collected the ball on the counter-attack, twisted past his marker and curled the ball into the far corner for his 88th international goal in 157 appearances.

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Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Portugal’s dramatic 3-3 draw against Spain on Friday to match Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas as Europe’s record top scorer with 84 goals.

The 33-year-old Real Madrid forward scored in the fourth minute against Morocco to give Portugal the early lead.

The Portuguese is now only behind Ali Daei of Iran, on 109 goals, in the global all-time scoring charts.

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