They have done it, they have seen most of it. And they can still talk a good game.

Both Ally McCoist and Gary McAllister, out of the World Cup for different reasons, came together yesterday and shared the disappointment of not making the tournament.

McCoist, despite forcing his way back into the Rangers team at the end of the season, was not picked by Craig Brown for France. McAllister on the other hand was forced out of the tournament through serious injury.

Both will be in France however, allbeit in different roles.

McAllister will link up with the squad in France as an unofficial member while McCoist will go there as a television pundit and present a BBC Scotland show from one of the floors of the Eiffel Tower before the Scotland and Brazil game.

Yesterday both men met up to run the rule over Scotland's World Cup chances and pick their favourites.

McAllister said travelling with the squad was a great honour but no consolation for not playing in the tournament.

''This seems to be the best prepared Scottish squad going into a tournament and talking to the boys it is clear they can't wait for the first game,'' he said. ''I'm pleased to be going with the team but disappointed I won't be playing.''

He said the tournament was vital for Scotland as a stepping stone, hopefully to better performances in major tournaments. He said the team was well prepared and ready to break out of the mould of glorious losers.

McCoist has put his money on Argentina to win the tournament with their striker Gabriel Batistuta as top scorer. He believed England were a good side but would not win the tournament.

McAllister said he believed Holland, with players like Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars in their ranks had a good chance as did Brazil, and unlike McCoist, he believed England could take the trophy. As for Germany, another one of the tournament favourites, McAllister felt this could be one tournament too many for their players and they would not be challengers.

Turning his attentions to Scotland's strike force for France which is widely expected to be Kevin Gallacher and Gordon Durie, McCoist said he would be happy for both of them to play as they had never let the national side down.

McCoist said that playing up front for Scotland probably was the hardest job in the world because in that role players had to defend as well. Accentuating a positive from Gallacher's glaring miss against the USA last month, McCoist said it was good to see him beating the defence and getting into the scoring position in the first place.

''Both Durie and Gallacher have pace which is important in that they will be asked to defend as well as score goals,'' said McCoist. ''That's not a criticism, it's just the Scottish way to play.'' McCoist said that he could see Scotland sneak a 1-0 or 2-1 victory over Brazil playing that way.

The lack of expectation surrounding Scotland's chances would work in our favour, said McCoist who believed all the pressure was on the Brazilians to win the game.

McAllister saw Brazil play Argentina in a friendly in Rio, a match which the home side lost 1-0. ''That game gave me a sense of belief,'' said McAllister. ''Brazil didn't play well and it got me thinking we could get a result.''

Like McCoist, McAllister believes Scotland's best chance of victory is to defend well and try to get a quick goal on the break.

As well as the strikers, both men agreed that two key performers would be midfielder Paul Lambert and goalkeeper Jim Leighton. McCoist said Andy Goram was the best goalkeeper he had ever played alongside in his career, but Leighton would be an able deputy.

As for Lambert, McAllister said: ''He has discipline and does the simple thing well. He is the sort of player who will do a good holding job for you and he has turned into a typical German midfield type player which is a great complement to receive.''

He added that this World Cup could see the emergence of young Scottish talent like Christian Dailly who he said had flourished in recent games for the national side.

He also picked out Simon Donnelly and Jackie McNamara of Celtic as young men who could break through during the tournament.

''To complement that, we have a number of players in the their 30s, and in the match against America last month, I believe we had eight players over that age in the finishing line-up,'' continued McAllister.

''To have that experience is good news for us in that players' careers can go on to 35 nowadays and that experience will come in useful, particularly in the first game against Brazil.''

Both men reckoned the Norway game would be the crunch one for Scotland, and McCoist believed the match would be close and would give the Scots their best chance of victory.

''Initially, I was a bit scared of Norway as they look a good side and have beaten Brazil 4-2 in a friendly and won I think 11 out of 12 friendly matches going into the World Cup,'' said McCoist.

''From a positive point of view they play a British type of game which will help us. I believe the match will be played like a British cup tie.

''I believe that Morocco will be a harder match than people think and Norway will turn out to be the closest game for us and our best chance of victory.''

Turning their attention to the bigger picture McCoist said that neighbours England were a good side, but nothing more than that.

''They have a tough group with Romania and Colombia in it and they will do well to qualify,'' said McCoist.

McAllister questioned Glenn Hoddle's decision to take Les Ferdinand who had only played a handful of games for Spurs rather than his Coventry team mate Dion Dublin, to the World Cup.

However, despite his concerns over selection McAllister still felt England would do well.