Italy eye ninth consecutive win in match with reigning world champions USA

Head-to-Head
• Italy and United States meet for the ninth time at the World Championships. USA won the first three (1978, 1982, 1986), Italy the last five (1986, 1998, 2002, 2010, 2014).
• Italy won their only world title to date by beating USA 3-2 in the 2002 final.
• Their most recent World Championship meeting took place in the 2014 third round. Italy won in straight sets.
• USA lead the head-to-head with Italy at major world level with 19 wins to 17.
• USA have won five of their last seven world level meetings with Italy, including the most recent, 3-0 at the 2018 Nations League.
• The women's world level major competitions are: the Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and the Nations League.

Italy
• Italy are already through to the final six. Italy finished in the top six at each of the previous five World Championships.
• Italy won the world title in 2002, but failed to finish in the top three in their other 10 participations in the competition.
• Italy have won all of their eight matches at the 2018 World Championship and have not surrendered more than one set in all eight victories.
• Italy have never won more than eight successive matches at World Championships.
• Paola Ogechi Egonu is Italy's top scorer on 149 points, with 125 of those coming off spikes.

United States
• United States are coming off their first defeat of the tournament, a straight sets loss against China.
• United States are not yet assured of the final six. No defending champions ever finished outside the top five at the next World Championships.
• A win against Italy will put United States in the final six. However, they could also advance with a defeat, depending on the outcome of the China v Russia match.
• Their defeat against China ended a 10-match winning streak for the US at World Championships. That run was preceded by back-to-back defeats, against Brazil and Italy.