Germany play Iran in what is the first World Championship match between the two teams
Katowice, Poland, September 17, 2014 - After losing to France yesterday, Germany take on Iran, who play the first of their two FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Round 3 matches tonight.
Head-to-Head• Germany and Iran have never played each other at the World Championships.
• They met twice at the 2013 World League. Both Germany and Iran won a match 3-0.
• Germany have won both meetings with AVC teams at the 2014 World Championship (3-0 vs Korea and China). Iran have won three out of five matches against European opposition at this tournament.
Germany• Germany lost their last match 3-0 against France on September 16. All of their three losses at this tournament have now come in straight sets.
• Germany are the only team still in the competition to have not played a five-setter at the 2014 World Championship. They can play their first five-setter in 18 World Championship matches.
• Germany have not lost back-to-back matches at the 2014 World Championship. The last time they ended a single World Championship campaign without consecutive losses was in 1970, when they won the title (East Germany).
Iran• Iran are guaranteed a top six finish, meaning they will better their previous best result by at least 13 positions on the final table. Their best result was a 19th place finish in 1998 and 2010.
• They have already won seven matches at this World Championship. In all four previous participations combined, they had won just five (17 losses).
• A win would mean Iran's 50th set win at the World Championship. They are currently on 47 set wins.