Portugal have swept aside the Faroe Islands 5-1 to keep up the pressure on Switzerland in Thursday's World Cup Group B qualifier at the Estadio do Bessa XXI.

Cristiano Ronaldo rattled a hat-trick past the Nordic nation, with William Carvalho and Nelson Oliveira also getting on the scoresheet.

However, the incumbent European champions were given a mild scare when 2-0 up, Rogvi Baldvinsson striking 38 minutes in to halve the deficit for the Faroes.

It took Fernando Santos's charges just three minutes to open the scoring as the national talisman was in the right place at the right time to leap into the air and meet Bernardo Silva's cross with a bicycle kick which left Gunnar Nielsen helpless.

Just before the half-hour mark, Roaldur Jakobsen gave away a penalty, which Ronaldo opted to take, and from all of 12 yards he drilled another unstoppable shot past the Faroes stopper.

However, the visitors managed to sully Portugal's clean sheet after Baldvinsson latched on to a loose ball to fire home via the left-hand post seven minutes before the break.

It proved a minor setback for the hosts, who reinstated a two-goal lead via Carvalho's header in the 58th minute before the Sporting Lisbon star set up Ronaldo to seal his treble.

With the game's outcome long established, there was time for Portugal to grab a fifth, Oliveira pouncing on a rebound to rifle the ball into the left-hand side of the Faroes goal six minutes before full time.

The result keeps Portugal, on 18 points from seven games, second in their group behind the Swiss, who have a 100% record thanks to their routine 3-0 win over minnows Andorra.