Head-to-head· USA have won only one of their five matches against Italy at the World Cup, a 3-0 win in 1999.
· Italy have won the last two World Cup ties against USA, 3-0 in 2003 and 3-1 in 2011.
· That 3-1 win on 25 November 2011 produced the highest scoring first set in history at any major men's championships: a 41-39 win for the Italians.
· USA won their last encounter with Italy at a major tournament, a 3-1 win in the first round of the 2014 world championships.
· Italy won the World League clash 3-0 earlier that year.
United States· USA can win their first four matches of a World Cup campaign for the first time since 1999, when they also won their first four.
· They can win consecutive matches in straight sets for the first time since 2007 (four in a row).
· Including the third/fourth place match at the 2015 World League, USA have conceded only one set in their last four competitive matches this year, in the 3-1 World Cup win against Japan.
Italy· Italy can win their first four matches at the World Cup for the first time since 1995, when they won the World Cup by winning all 11 matches.
· Including their last two matches in 2011, they can win six World Cup matches in a row for the first time since 2003.
· Italy have a W4-L4 record in five-set matches at the World Cup. They lost their last five-setter after a run of four wins.
· Ivan Zaytsev has been Italy's (joint) top scorer in all three matches at this World Cup, scoring 24 points against Egypt (3-1 win).