Lausanne, Switzerland, September 13, 2017 – After two competition days at the 2017 FIVB Men's World Grand Champions Cup in Japan, Iran remained as the only unbeaten team in the tournament. To stay that way, the Asian team face a tough challenge as they meet Brazil in the first match after the competition moves to Osaka. Friday’s game will be the third encounter between Iran and Brazil in the history of the Grand Champions Cup.
Head-to-Head
• Iran and Brazil will clash for the third time at the World Grand Champions Cup. Brazil won both previous meetings (2009, 2013) by 3-1.
• Iran's last victory over Brazil at the world level came at the 2014 World League, when they recorded a 3-1 pool stage win.
• On June 3, Brazil beat Iran 3-1 at the 2017 World League, in these nations' most recent competitive meeting.
Iran
• Iran have started the 2017 Grand Champions Cup with a pair of victories and are the only team in this tournament that is still undefeated.
• They beat USA 3-2, despite the Americans outscoring them 108-104 over the course of the match.
• Iran's best showing in the Grand Champions Cup is a fourth place finish in 2013.
• Iran have now won each of their last four matches at the Grand Champions Cup, after winning only two of their first eight in the competition.
Brazil
• Brazil started off this tournament with a straight-set victory over France on Tuesday, but found themselves pegged back by Italy in five sets on Wednesday.
• Against Italy, Brazil failed to capitalize on 41 errors by their opponents and the fact that they outscored Italy 112-102 in points over the course of the five-set defeat.
• Brazil are the defending champions and winners of four of the previous six instalments of the Grand Champions Cup.
• Brazil have a track record of 28 wins and four defeats at the Grand Champions Cup and have never lost more than one match in this tournament in a single year.