Ardabil, Iran, June 21, 2019 - Stephen Boyer was among France's leading players as coach Laurent Tillie's men began their campaign in 2019 men's FIVB Volleyball Nations League Pool 15 in Ardabil with a victory against Australia. Find out more on the dedicated match centre pages.
Pre-match stats:
France - Australia (June 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· France and Australia will meet for the seventh time in world level major competitions. France won five of the previous six, Australia one.
· World level major competitions are: FIVB Volleyball Nations League, Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League and Grand Champions Cup.
· Australia's only win in a world level match against France came in the 2014 World League, when they prevailed in five sets in the final of Group 2 and qualified for the Final Six.
· France have won each of their last two encounters with Australia at a world level major competition in straight sets.
· Last year, these teams also met in the VNL. France won 3-0 after a lengthy last set (25-17, 25-20, 36-34).
France
· France lost their last two FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, both in four sets against United States and Argentina.
· They have lost three matches in total in the 2019 VNL, one shy of their total number of defeats last year (4).
· Nicolas Le Goff is among the best blockers in the competition, totalling 17 stuff blocks (0.47 average per set).
· Jean Patry is the team's leading scorer on 92 points. Last year, he scored 98 points in the VNL preliminary round.
Australia
· Australia have lost 11 of their last 12 matches in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League, with the only exception in this run their 3-0 victory over Germany on 9 June.
· Lincoln Alexander Williams is Australia's top scorer on 104 points. He is the only Australian player to have scored a century in points this VNL campaign.
· Williams is only 14 points shy of Jordan Richards' total in the 2018 VNL (118), who became top scorer of the team last year.
Iran - Portugal (June 21, 2019)
Head-to-Head
· Iran and Portugal will meet for the first time in a major world level competition.
· World level major competitions are: Olympic Games, World Championship, World Cup, World League, Volleyball Nations League and Grand Champions Cup.
· Iran have won all four of their FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches against European opponents this season.
· Portugal won their only VNL match match against an AVC team so far, a 3-0 victory over China on 14 June 2019.
Iran
· Iran have won 11 of their last 12 FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches, with the exception in this run a 3-2 defeat to Brazil on 7 June 2019.
· Iran could equal their longest winning streak in the VNL: six matches from 2018-2019. Than run was ended by the aforementioned defeat to Brazil.
· Iran have already won more VNL matches in 2019 (8) than in the whole of the 2018 season (7).
· With Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi (0.67 average per set) and Mir Saeid Marouflakrani (9.03 average per set), Iran have the competition's best blocker and best setter in their midst.
· Amir Ghafour is Iran's top scorer this VNL season on 151 points, 54 points more than Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi in second place on 97 points.
Portugal
· Portugal have won only two of their nine FIVB Volleyball Nations League matches so far, a 3-1 victory over Bulgaria on 2 June and a 3-0 victory over China on 14 June.
· Portugal could equal their record VNL losing streak of three, set earlier this tournament against Russia, Italy and USA.
· Six of Portugal's nine VNL matches so far were decided in straight-sets (five defeats, one victory).
· Brothers Marco Ferreira (110) and Alexandre Ferreira (106) lead the charge for Portugal in terms of points. Filip Cveticanin followns on 64 points.