Head-to-Head• Serbia and Italy have met on five previous occasions at the World Championship. Serbia have won four of those five matches.
• Italy's only victory over Serbia in the competition was their victory in the 1998 gold medal match.
• Their last meeting in the competition came in the 2010 bronze medal match, which Serbia won 3-1.
Serbia• Serbia have won their last four matches in this tournament after losing the opening match of the tournament 3-0 to hosts Poland.
• The last time Serbia won more than four in a row at the World Championship was 2006, when they won eight on the trot.
• Only one of the last 43 World Championship matches involving Serbia went to five sets. That was Serbia's 3-2 defeat against Cuba in the 2010 semifinals.
Italy• Italy finished fourth in Pool D after losing their last two matches by 3-1. Italy have now lost five of their last seven matches in the competition.
• Only two teams survived the first group phase despite earning only five points in five matches: Australia and Italy.
• None of the last 12 World Championship matches involving Italy has been decided in straight sets.
• Ivan Zaytsev led Italy in scoring in Pool D. His 82 points were at least 22 more than the scoring totals of each of his teammates.