Head-to-head
· Poland have won four of the five World Cup matches against Japan, including the last three, in 1977, 1981 and 2011.
· Japan have claimed six wins in 29 matches against Poland at major tournaments.
· Their most recent win was a 3-2 victory at the Grand Champions Cup in 2009.
· Japan have won the last two encounters at international tournaments that needed a fifth set, after having lost all nine of these deciding sets.
Japan
· Japan can win six matches at a single World Cup for the first time since winning seven matches in 1995.
· They can lose three successive matches for the first time in the World Cup since their last three matches in 2011.
· Japan can record 11 wins at world tournaments in 2015 (excludes Asian Championship) for the first time in 20 years: 1995.
· They have lost their last 10 World Cup matches in Tokyo, equalling their longest streak set between 1977 and 1991, when they also lost 10 in a row in the Japanese capital.
Poland
· Poland beat United States 3-1 and are now the only unbeaten team at the 2015 World Cup.
· Poland can win the 2015 World Cup if they beat Japan AND United States and Italy do not win. They could become the seventh country to win the competition, after Russia, Brazil, Cuba, Italy, USA and (East) Germany.
· Poland have won their last nine World Cup matches, which is already a team record.
· Poland have won at least two sets in each of their last 21 World Cup matches, following a straight set defeat to Brazil in 1981.
· They can win 10 consecutive competitive matches for the first time since a streak of 11 between September 2014 and June 2015, when they won their last seven 2014 World Championship matches followed by their first four in the 2015 World League.