Head-to-head
· This will be the first match between these two teams at the World Cup.
· Iran have won four of the last five encounters in major tournaments.
· They beat Australia most recently in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Asian Championship in Iran on 6 August (3-1).
· Iran also defeated them at the 2014 world championship (3-1).
· Australia's most recent win against Iran came at the 2007 Asian Championship, 3-2 (15-13 final set).
Australia
· Australia have lost their last three matches in straight sets. At the 2007 World Cup they last suffered four consecutive straight set defeats.
· Australia have won eight competitive matches in 2015 and they need one more to equal their nine wins in 2014.
· The last time they won more matches in a year was 2007 - 13 wins, including four at the World Cup.
· After winning three of their first four World Cup matches (all in 2007), they have now gone winning two of their last 15.
Iran
· On Friday, Iran defeated Japan 3-2 after trailing 2-0. This was only the second intercontinental match for Iran in which they won after trailing 2-0. In the 2013 World League, they defeated Cuba 3-2 after trailing 2-0 in Havana.
· Iran have now won 15 of their competitive matches in 2015 and lost 13. Last year they had a W14-L14 record.
· Team top scorer Amir Ghafour is two points shy of 100 points at the 2015 World Cup.