Osaka, Japan, June 15, 2016 - Finland play at Japan on opening day of FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 battles and are psyched to achieve their first victory against this Asian opponent.
Head-to-Head
• These teams have met three times before in a competitive match. Japan defeated Finland on all three occasions.
• The first was at the 1966 World Championship and the other two were at the 2013 World League. Both World League matches were played in Japan.
• Finland have won three of their last five matches against AVC teams.
Japan
• Japan are participating for the 23rd time at the World League. Their best result is a sixth place in 1990, 1993 and 2008.
• Last year, they finished 13th, after finishing second in Pool D, behind France and ahead of Czech Republic and Korea.
• Only Korea have a worse win percentage of all teams having played at least 100 World League matches (22.9%). Japan have a winning percentage of 23.2%.
• Japan have won one of their last four World League matches, 3-0 against Czech Republic.
• They have won their last two World League matches on home soil and can win three in a row for the first time since 2008 (four).
Finland
• Finland are participating for the 12th time at the World League. Their best result was in 2007, when they finished seventh.
• Last year, they finished 15th, when they finished ahead of Portugal and behind Belgium and Netherlands in Pool E.
• They won four matches and lost eight in the 2015 World League, but won their last two (both against Portugal). They can win three in a row in the competition for the first time since 2011.
• Finland needs one more victory to reach their 50th in the World League.