Brighton draw at Tromso in UEFA Conference League play-offs

Brighton drew 0-0 with Tromso in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off. The match was played in Tromso, 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. According to the New Straits Times and Free Malaysia Today, Brighton controlled much of the contest but failed to find a breakthrough, with Tromso goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard making two sharp first-half saves to deny Georginio Rutter and Ibrahim Osman.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler handed defender Luka Vuskovic his debut following his club-record move from Tottenham. The team were without Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh, who are sidelined through injury and have been linked with moves to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively, as per the New Straits Times and Free Malaysia Today.

The return leg will be played at Brighton's Amex Stadium next Thursday. The winner on aggregate will qualify for the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa Conference League.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria, Punch, New Straits Times, Free Malaysia Today, Daily Post Nigeria — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.