Brighton's Ibrahim Osman shooting at a wall of defendersGetty Images

Brighton have never won a major trophy but are one of the favourites to win the Conference League

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport journalist

Brighton were held to a goalless draw by Norwegian side Tromso in their Conference League play-off first leg played almost 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The Seagulls had the better chances and Tromso goalkeeper Jakob Haugaard made two fine diving first-half saves to keep out a low Georginio Rutter strike and an Ibrahim Osman volley.

Despite Brighton's dominance Tromso had two big opportunities on the break, with the first arriving in the second half when Heine Larsen beat an offside trap but his one-on-one effort was saved by the body of Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.

In the 85th minute Isak Vadebu also beat Brighton's high line but skewed his shot wide when through on goal.

Brighton, who are playing in a European competition for only the second time having reached the Europa League last 16 in 2024, host Tromso in the return leg next Thursday (19:30 GMT).

Carlos Baleba and Yankuba Minteh, who have been linked to Manchester United and Liverpool respectively this season, were not in the Brighton squad with both currently sidelined due to injury.

Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler gave a first competitive start to Luka Vuskovic.

The defender joined the Seagulls for a club-record £46m from Tottenham this summer, and he enjoyed a mostly quiet evening - although he was shown a yellow card in the second half for a shirt pull on the halfway line.

Fellow summer signing Zadok Yohanna came on as a late substitute.

Brighton's next match is their Premier League opener at home to Aston Villa on Sunday (14:00 BST), while Tromso have a seven-day rest before facing the Seagulls in England.

Player of the match

I. Osman
6.72
9 D. Braut
6.55
11 R. Jenssen
6.00
8 J. Grundt
6.00
37 S. Innvær
6.00
1 J. Haugaard
5.96
17 I. Dahlqvist
5.87
5 D. Edvardsson
5.80
3 M. Tønnessen
5.59
4 V. Skjærvik
5.50
30 I. Vådebu
5.40
10 T. Nyhammer
5.36
22 H. Larsen
5.31
29 A. Warneryd
5.25
20 Ieltsin Camões
5.08
7 L. Olden Larsen
4.78
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