Ally McCoist says Scotland getting Germany at 'great time' as Euro 2024 opener looms

Ally McCoist reckons Scotland are getting Germany “at a great time” as the clock ticks down towards Euro 2024.

The Rangers and Scotland legend is looking forward to the national side competing at a major tournament on foreign soil for the first time since the France 1998 World Cup, where the Scots opened the competition against Brazil at the Stade de France in a 2-1 defeat.

Fast-forward 26 years and Scotland have the honour of kicking-off another major tournament, this time facing hosts Germany on Friday night at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Once again, the Scots will be huge outsiders and East Kilbride’s famous son believes despite the Germans having home advantage, Scotland can thrive on the occasion and there won’t be a better time to play Julian Nagelsmann’s side, with the Germans at their lowest world-ranking for 18 years.

“When the draw was made I was a lot happier about facing Germany because we didn’t have any injuries and they were struggling a little bit," McCoist told the PA news agency, speaking on behalf of IRN-BRU.

“But in the months that have passed they have hit a bit of form. I still maintain it’s a good game for us and it’s a great time to have them though.

“We’ll probably go into all of our games as underdogs but we’ll certainly go into the Germany game as heavy underdogs, which sometimes suits us.”

Scotland will also face Switzerland and Hungary in Group A and on the nation’s chances at the tournament, McCoist – who scored the winner against the Swiss for Scotland at Euro ‘96 – said: “If there was a league table for optimism, we’d be top of it every year.

“The fact it’s our first tournament since 1998 that we’ve been able to travel to is clearly generating a lot of excitement.

“The older you get,