Paulinho's hat-trick propelled Toluca to a 4-2 win over LA Galaxy in the first leg of their Champions Cup quarter-final tie.
The 33-year-old featured for Portugal in last month's international break, and did his chances of making Roberto Martinez's World Cup squad no harm with a superb showing on Wednesday.
Nicolas Castro put Toluca ahead early on before Paulinho made it 2-0 before half-time to cap a rapid counter-attack.
Gabriel Pec netted his sixth goal in the Champions Cup this season to halve the deficit, but Paulinho swiftly restored Toluca's two-goal cushion.
Marco Reus, who assisted Pec, then got on the scoresheet himself in the 77th minute, but Paulinho had the final say to cap a hugely impressive performance.
The Seattle Sounders also tasted defeat in the first leg of their tie against Tigres UANL, going down 2-0.
Ozziel Herrera netted for the hosts before Jackson Ragen's own goal rounded off the scoring.
Data Debrief: Paulinho proves his worth
Paulinho topped the charts for shots (six), attempts on target (four), shots from inside the opponent's box (five), touches inside the opposition area (nine) and expected goals (1.43).
Toluca created chances worth 2.34 xG overall, meaning Paulinho was responsible for over half of their total.
The Liga MX club are now unbeaten in 17 home games across all competitions.