Kobe, Japan, October 2, 2018 - Russia will be meeting with Azerbaijan for the third time and will be looking for their straight win in the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
Head-to-head
• These sides have met twice in a major encounter at world level. Both matches took place in 2006 and both were won by Russia.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and Nations League.
• They met once before at the World Championship. On 1 November 2006, Russia triumphed 3-1 in Sapporo, Japan.
• Earlier that year, they had also met in a World Grand Prix match in Hong Kong. Russia emerged victorious 3-2.
• Another three meetings at European Championships, and one in an Olympic qualifier in 2004 all resulted In Russia wins, with Russia dropping only one set in those four matches combined.
Russia• Russia started their World Championship run with wins over Trinidad & Tobago (3-0) and Thailand (3-2).
• Russia (incl. Soviet Union) have now won seven five-setters and lost six at World Championships.
• Against Thailand on Sunday, Russia came back from 2-0 behind to win. This was the second time they achieved this at World Championships, after Soviet Union's 3-2 win against Romania in 1956.
• In 2014, Russia won their first four matches, with three of those in straight sets.
• Nataliya Goncharova was her team's most prolific scorer against Trinidad and Tobago (13 points) and Thailand (30).
Azerbaijan• Azerbaijan opened their 2018 World Championship with a 3-0 loss against reigning champions United States and a 3-1 win against Republic of Korea.
• For the first time ever, Azerbaijan could win back-to-back matches with at a single World Championship.
• Azerbaijan could win back-to-back World Championship matches for the second time, after a 3-0 against Puerto Rico in 2006 followed by a 3-2 against Japan in 2014.
• Polina Rahimova has scored 47 points at this tournament, including seven serves.