Osaka, Japan, October 9, 2018 - Turkey and Azerbaijan face off in Pool F in Osaka on Wednesday.
Head-to-Head· Turkey and Azerbaijan will meet for the first time at the World Championship.
· These nations have never met in any other world level major competition (Nations League, Olympic Games, World Cup, World Grand Prix and Grand Champions Cup).
· On 1 October 2017, Azerbaijan came from behind to beat Turkey 3-1 in the third-place decider at the European Championship in Baku.
Turkey· Turkey have yet to claim their first set in this year's second round after suffering back-to-back defeats in straight sets against Russia and United States.
· Turkey could lose three times in a row at the World Championship for the first time.
· Turkey have now lost four matches at the 2018 World Championship, equal to their four defeats in 2014. They lost five matches in 2010 and six in 2006.
· Eda Erdem Dündar (63) and Meryem Boz (62) are Turkey's top scorers at this World Championship.
· Zehra Gunes (11) and Seyma Ercan (10) lead Turkey in points from blocks. They could face Azerbaijan's Polina Rahimova who has scored 107 points from spikes.
Azerbaijan· Azerbaijan have lost three matches in a row at a single World Championship for the first time.
· Azerbaijan could lose four consecutive World Championships matches for the first time, after four defeats in 1994-2006.
· Azerbaijan have lost five matches in total at the 2018 tournament. They have never lost more than five matches at a single World Championship (5 in 2006, 5 in 2014).
· Azerbaijan are making their fourth appearance at the World Championship. They claimed four wins in each of their last two campaigns (2006, 2014). They are now on two wins in 2018.
· Polina Rahimova has scored 132 points at this year's World Championship.
· Iuliia Karimova has recorded 82 digs in the tournament, 3.6 on average per set.