Kostanay's Tobol, the last Kazakh club to start its European campaign, drew 1-1 with Lithuanian side Panevezys in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the 2026/27 UEFA Conference League, reports infohub.kz.
Both clubs, winners of their domestic cups in 2025, are enduring difficult seasons. Tobol sits ninth in the Kazakh Premier League, while Panevezys is eighth, second from bottom in the Lithuanian league. The match at the 4,000-seat Aukštaitija Stadium reflected their standings.
The game was heading to halftime when Tobol goalkeeper Sultan Busurmanov was injured in a collision with striker Kwadwo Asamoah. Substitute Danil Ustimenko immediately made a sharp save from another Ghanaian, Isaac Asante, tipping the ball for a corner. From the resulting corner, Senegalese player Seidina Keita scored from close range, opening the scoring in the 45th minute.
The second half saw more attacking intent. On 47 minutes, Kazakh Nauryzbek Zhagorov, and on 55 minutes, Panevezys' Moroccan midfielder Amin Talal missed excellent chances. On 58 minutes, Asamoah, who earlier forced Busurmanov off, committed a rough foul on Islam Chesnokov. Norwegian referee Mohammad Aslam showed Asamoah a yellow card and awarded a penalty.
Unfortunately for the visitors, Tobol captain Askhat Tagybergen failed to beat Panevezys goalkeeper Vytautas Černiauskas from the spot. Černiauskas, buoyed by the save, also denied Tagybergen from a free kick and stopped shots from Serbian Uroš Milovanović and Chesnokov from open play.
However, in the 84th minute, the Kazakhs finally broke through. Tagybergen's curling free kick was headed home by Tobol's Montenegrin striker Nemanja Cvajić, making it 1-1. Both sides had chances to win it late, but the tie will be decided in the return leg in Kostanay on July 30.
To reach the Conference League group stage, Tobol must survive three qualifying rounds. In the third round, the winner of this Kazakh-Lithuanian tie will face Serbia's Partizan or Luxembourg's UNA. Group stage matches run from October 15 to December 17, with the final on June 2, 2027 at Beşiktaş Park in Istanbul.