Head-to-Head · This will be the seventh and eighth meeting between these nations at the World League. Both teams have won three times.
· In 2013, Portugal won 3-2 and Netherlands won 3-0 in Apeldoorn (NED). Last year, both teams won 3-2 in Almere (NED) and in Matosinhos (POR) Netherlands won 3-0 and Portugal 3-1.
· These teams also met at the 1956 World Championship, with Netherlands winning 3-0 in a consolation round match.
Portugal · Portugal will participate for the 12th time in the World League. Their best result is a fifth place finish in 2005. Last year they finished 13th.
· They won only two of their last 10 matches in Matosinhos, including their last one, which was against Netherlands on 22 June 2014.
· Rodrigues Tavares will meet his Copra Piacenza teammate Thijs ter Horst.
Netherlands · Netherlands will participate for the 19th time in the World League. They won the tournament in 1996 and finished 12th last season.
· Netherlands is one of six countries to have won the tournament. The others are Brazil, Russia, Italy, Poland and Cuba.
· They are two wins shy of their 150th in the World League and can become the fifth country to reach this mark after Brazil, Italy, Russia and Cuba.
· They lost their last two matches last season and can lose three in a row for the first time since 2010, when they lost seven in a row.
· Netherlands won five of their seven away matches in the World League last year.