Lausanne, Switzerland, June 14, 2017 - Argentina host Serbia Friday in Cordoba in what is the 20th time the two sides come head-to-head in FIVB World League history, with the Balkan team leading the series 12-7. Defending champions Serbia, with just one loss so far this season, need a win to secure their ticket to this year's Final Six in Curitiba, but Argentina, still seeking their second win of the season cannot afford to lose if they are to remain in the race.
Head-to-Head• Argentina and Serbia (including as Serbia and Montenegro) have met 19 times in the World League with Argentina winning seven times versus 12 Serbia victories.
• Six of the last seven World League matches between these teams, including the last three, finished in straight sets, with Argentina winning four and Serbia two.
• Serbia won the previous encounter between these teams in the 2017 World League (3-0). They can win consecutive World League matches against Argentina for the first time since a run of three in 2009-2011.
• These sides also met at each of the last three World Championships (2006, 2010, 2014), with Serbia winning 3-1 on each occasion.
Argentina• Argentina have lost their last four World League matches and can lose five in a row for the first time since their 13-match losing streak in 2013-2014.
• Argentina lost their last two matches both after five sets. They can play three five-setters in a row in the World League for the first time since five consecutive in 2009 (W3-L2).
• Argentina and Italy are the only teams with only one victory in Group 1 of the 2017 World League. Their 17 conceded sets are most in the Group.
• Cristian Poglajen has scored a team high 86 points in this year's World League.
Serbia• Serbia are currently on a four-match winning streak and have won five of the first six matches in the 2017 World League.
• En route to their victory last year, they started with a winning streak of six matches.
• After their straight set loss against Belgium on 3 June, Serbia have dropped only two sets in four matches.
• They won the first set of the match in each of those four matches.
• Of all players in Group 1, only Julien Lyneel (58.89%) and Evandro M. Guerra (57.27%) have a higher successful spike rate than Marko Ivovic (54.21%).