He slotted home after only five minutes and, just when it looked as if there would be no further scoring before half-time, he controlled a cross from Celtic's Paul McMullan on his chest and steadied himself to shoot home.

A hand-ball offence provided him with the chance of a third from the penalty spot 17 minutes into the second half, and McMullan lobbed a fourth seven minutes later. Luxembourg restored some pride with goals from Cedric Sacras, from the spot, and substitute Max Mangen before the Rangers defender Ryan Sinnamon put the icing on the cake with a fantastic 40-yard drive in the final seconds.

Dean Gorre, their coach, said: "I was looking for a clean sheet but we lost concentration at 4-0. We can take confidence from this game before playing Ukraine [they beat hosts Georgia 3-1 in the other game], who I think are the team to beat, on Thursday."