Izmir, Turkey, June 15, 2016 - Despite being members of the same continental confederation, Turkey and Portugal have never met in a World League competitive match. They will get this chance on the first day of the FIVB Volleyball World League 2016 Group 2 tournament in Izmir.
Head-to-Head
• Turkey and Portugal have never met in a competitive match in the tournament.
• Turkey have won three of their last five matches against CEV sides in all competitions, losing against France and Bulgaria in the European Games.
• Portugal have won only one of their last 14 matches against European teams in all competitions, only beating Netherlands in last year's World League.
Turkey
• Turkey take part in the World League for the third time after finishing 22nd in 2014 and 25th last year.
• In 2014, they lost the final of Group 3 against Cuba in Bursa (TUR) and in 2015, they finished second in their finished second in Pool F and did not qualify for the Final Round.
• Turkey have won three of their four World League matches in Turkey. They only lost against Cuba in the final of Group 3 in 2014.
• They won their last three matches in the World League last year and can win four in a row for the second time following five successive wins in 2014.
Portugal
• Portugal participate for the 13th time in the World League. Their best result came in 2005, when they finished fifth.
• Last year, they finished 18th, their worst result in all 12 previous participations. They won only one of their 12 matches, 3-2 against Netherlands.
• They have lost 12 of their last 13 World League matches, dating back to their last match in 2014.
• Of teams having played at least 100 World League matches, only Korea (23%) and Japan (23%) have won a lower percentage of matches than Portugal (24%).