Kobe, Japan, October 4, 2018 - Thailand and Azerbaijan will be meeting for the third time in the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship and will be vying for their third win in this edition.
Head-to-head
• These teams have met twice in a major encounter at world level.
• World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World Grand Prix, Grand Champions Cup and Nations League.
• Both of these meetings came at the 2006 World Grand Prix.
• On 20 August 2006, Azerbaijan won 3-2 in a match in Hong Kong, a match in which they had trailed 2-0 in sets.
• One week later, they met in Taipei and now it was Thailand who would emerge victorious in five sets.
Thailand• Thailand started their World Championship with wins over Republic of Korea and Trinidad & Tobago and losses against Russia and United States.
• Thailand could win three matches at a single World Championship for the second time, after four wins in 2010.
• In each of the four 2018 World Championship matches involving Thailand, both teams won at least one set. In 2014, all five of their matches were decided in straight sets (1 win, 4 losses).
• Ajcharaporn Kongyot (23 points, all spikes) was Thailand's most prolific scorer in the five-set loss against United States on Wednesday.
Azerbaijan• Azerbaijan have won two matches and lost two at the 2018 World Championship - defeats against United States and Russia, and wins against Republic of Korea and Trinidad & Tobago.
• Azerbaijan could claim their third win at the 2018 World Championship. In both of their last two appearances (2006, 2014), they had four total wins.
• Azerbaijan could win back-to-back World Championship matches for the second time, after beating Puerto Rico 3-0 in 2006 and Japan 3-2 in 2014.
They could win two successive matches within a single edition for the first time.
• Polina Rahimova scored 27 points against Trinidad & Tobago. She has scored 93 points in total in this year's tournament.