Viking reach Champions League main stage for the first time in their history

Viking have achieved something the club had never managed before.

Details: The Norwegian side defeated Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 in the second leg of the Champions League play-offs and advanced 5-3 on aggregate. Arbër Hoxha put the Croatian club ahead in the 10th minute, but Zlatko Tripić equalised from the penalty spot eight minutes later. After the break, Edvin Austbø and Tobias Moi struck in quick succession to turn the match completely in Viking's favour.

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The tie had been perfectly balanced before the return leg. In Zagreb, Dinamo raced into a 2-0 lead inside ten minutes, but Peter Christiansen and Tripić brought Viking back into the contest before half-time and secured a 2-2 draw.

The victory in Norway therefore became a historic one. Viking have qualified for the league phase of Europe's elite club competition for the first time and will be among the 36 teams in the 2026/27 Champions League main stage. The league-phase draw takes place on August 27 at 18:00 CET.

It is worth noting that before this breakthrough, Viking had reached a group or league phase of a UEFA competition only once in their history — in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup.

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