Ruse, Bulgaria, September 17, 2018 – The Netherlands and Egypt will meet for the first time since 1978 in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship.
Head-to-Head
• The only previous World Championship match between Egypt and Netherlands was a straight-set Dutch victory in Venice in 1978. That was the first world level major tournament fixture between the nations.
• The world level major tournaments are Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
• Netherlands have won all six world level major tournament matches against Egypt.
• The most recent world level major tournament fixtures between Egypt and Netherlands came in the 2017 World League. The Dutch won 3-0 in Malatya and 3-2 in Ceské Budejovice.
Egypt
• Egypt's 3-1 win against China on Sunday ended a run of 12 defeats at the World Championships.
• Egypt could now win back-to-back matches at the World Championship for the second time after 1974, when they beat both Italy and Panama.
• Egypt last won at least two matches in a single edition of the World Championship in 1978 (2 wins).
• Ahmed Abdelhay scored 23 points for Egypt in the 3-1 win over China, at least nine more than any other teammate.
Netherlands
• On Sunday, Netherlands came from two sets down to beat France in five sets, claiming their third consecutive win at the 2018 World Championship.
• Netherlands could now win four World Championship matches in a row for the first time since 1998, when they won their opening seven matches.
• Netherlands are one shy of their 50th defeat at the World Championship. Their current balance is 54 wins and 49 defeats.
• Nimir Abdel-Aziz scored a match-high 31 points in Netherlands' 3-2 win over France, including 26 spikes.
• Only China's Chuan Jiang (77) has scored more points at the 2018 World Championships than Abdel-Aziz (68).