Head-to-Head
• Bulgaria and Canada will meet for the first time in the World League.
• These teams met three times at the World Championships: a 3-1 win for Bulgaria in 1978, a 3-0 win for Bulgaria in 1998 and most recently a 3-2 win for Canada in 2014.
• Jason Derocco (CAN) and Venelin Kadankov (BUL) both play for Turkish side Afyonkarahisar. Valentin Bratoev (BUL) Rudy Verhoeff (CAN) are teammates at French team GFC Ajaccio.
Bulgaria
• Bulgaria will compete in their 18th World League. They have finished in the top-6 in 11 of their previous 17 participations, but are still without silverware in the competition.
• Bulgaria have won only one of their last 15 World League matches, losing their last four. That sole victory came against NORCECA side United States in 2014 (3-2).
• They have lost their last six World League matches in Bulgaria. Before this streak they had never lost more than three successive home matches since the turn of the century (2000).
Canada
• Canada beat Cuba twice in the opening weekend of the World League. Both wins came in straight sets.
• They can win three World League matches in a row without losing a set for the first time in the competition.
• The last time they won three successive matches in the competition, regardless of the score, was in 2013 when they won seven in a row.
• Gavin Schmitt led the scoring in both meets with Cuba, 17 points in the first and 19 points in the second match.