Head-to-head· Italy and Egypt will meet for the fourth time at the World Cup. All three previous meetings ended in a straight sets victory for Italy.
· The only major competition victory from Egypt against Italy came at the 1974 World Championship where Egypt prevailed after five sets.
· These teams have not met in a major competition since their 2011 World Cup clash (3-0 victory Italy).
Italy· Italy recorded their second victory in this year's World Cup by beating Australia 3-0 on Wednesday.
· They can win the first three matches of a World Cup campaign for the third time after 1995 (win) and 2003.
· In all of their 60 previous World Cup matches, Italy have failed to win a set in only three of them. They are currently on a streak of 31 matches winning at least one set.
Egypt· Egypt lost both World Cup matches this campaign, against Japan and Canada, in five sets.
· Egypt can become the first team losing three five-setters in a row in the competition.
· Egypt can lose 11 successive World Cup matches in a row for the first time since a streak of 12 between 1995 and 2003.
· Ahmed Abdelhay scored a dashing 36 points against Canada, 19 more than Egypt's second-best scorer Abd Elhalim Mohamed Abou.