Osaka, Japan, 5 October 2018 - Russia and Turkey meet for only the third time in the history of the competition, when they go head-to-head Sunday at the 2018 FIVB World Championship. Their record stands at 1-1 in the world championship, but Russia lead the overall series in FIVB competitions 6-2.
Head-to-Head• Turkey and Russia will meet for the third time at the World Championship and for the third edition in a row. In 2010, Russia claimed a 3-1 first round victory (25-27, 25-22, 25-11, 25-17). And in the 2014 second round, Turkey came from two set down to record a five-set win (19-25, 25-27, 25-22, 25-22, 15-13).
• Turkey have won just two of their eight matches against Russia in world level major competitions (Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and Nations League), the 3-2 win at the 2014 World Championship and a five-set victory at the 2014 World Grand Prix.
• None of the previous eight world level encounters between these nations has finished in straight sets.
Turkey• Turkey are hoping to record their best finish ever at the World Championship. This is their fourth appearance in the competition after 2006 (10th), 2010 (6th) and 2014 (9th).
• Turkey (W3-L2) beat Cuba 3-1 in their final match in the first round and can now claim back-to-back wins for the first time at the 2018 World Championship.
• Four of Turkey's five matches at the 2018 World Championship finished in straight sets, with the 3-1 win over Cuba in their final first round fixture as the only exception.
• Meryem Boz (56) is the only player with more than 50 points for Turkey at the 2018 World Championship. Eda Erdem Dündar (49) needs one more point to reach the 50-point mark.
Russia• Russia lost 3-2 against United States in their final first round match, suffering their first defeat at the 2018 World Championship (W4-L1).
• Russia have won a record seven World Championship titles, five as Soviet Union (1952, 1956, 1960, 1970, 1990) and two as Russia (2006 and 2010).
• Russia could win at least one set for the 50th straight World Championship match. Their last 3-0 defeat came in the 1998 semifinals, against China.
• Nataliya Goncharova has scored a 119 points in the first round at the 2018 World Championship, more than any other player in the competition.
• Irina Koroleva has recorded 21 stuff blocks, at least three more than any other player at the 2018 World Championship.