Japan looking for first victory over France since 2007

• Japan and France will meet for the 21st and 22nd time in the World League. Japan won only three of the previous 20 meetings.

• Last year, Japan won only one set in their four meetings with France (all defeat). Two of those defeats came in Kyoto.

• Japan's last victory over France came in the 2007 World League, beating the French in four sets.

• Japan can win two of their first three matches in a World League campaign for the first time since 1993 when they won all three.

• Japan have won only two of their last eight matches on home soil.

• Japan have claimed at least two sets in their last three matches and can claim at least two sets in four consecutive matches for the first time since 1993 (4).

• Of all teams with at least seven appearances, Japan (22 appearances) have the lowest win rate, winning only 22.56% of their matches.

• France have lost only three of their last 19 World League matches.

• France are currently on a two-match winning streak and can win three in a row for the first time since 2014, when they defeated Germany once and forthcoming opponents Japan twice.

• France are five shy of losing their 500th set. Five teams have already lost 500 or more sets: Japan (679), Cuba (578), Italy (556), Russia (524) and Korea (519).

• Coming into the weekend, France's Antonin Rouzier is the tournament's best performing spiker with a success rate of 62.22%. He is also the best server (0.86 average per set).

• Kevin le Roux is the best blocker of the tournament so far (1.43 average per set).