Lausanne, Switzerland, July 22, 2017 - The Netherland play Belgium Sunday in Cuiaba and depending on what has happened previously in Hong Kong at the Japan v Russia game and in Cuiaba between Brazil and USA, the Dutch could be in a must win situation for a ticket to the 2016 FIVB World Grand Prix Final Six. The two sides have come head-to-head seven times in a world competition with The Netherlands leading the series 6-1, including a straight-set last week in Kaliningrad.
Head-to-Head• Belgium have won only one of their seven encounters with neighbours Netherlands at world level. In addition, they have met on several other occasions on a continental level.
• That one victory came in the final round of the 2014 World Grand Prix and enabled Belgium to win promotion to the top tier of the competition.
• They met last weekend in Kaliningrad, Russia. Netherlands recorded a straight sets victory.
Belgium• Belgium (8 losses) are the only team in Group 1 still awaiting its first World Grand Prix victory of the season. Combined with last season, they have suffered 10 successive defeats.
• Belgium have won only one of their last 17 World Grand Prix matches, the 3-1 triumph over Turkey on 24 June of last year.
• Belgium have claimed multiple World Grand Prix victories against three opponents: Turkey, Poland and Canada (two versus each). They can now beat Netherlands for the second time as well.
• Despite a 3-1 defeat, Kaja Grobelna took the top scoring honours against United States on Friday, tallying 24 points.
Netherlands• Netherlands aim to bounce back from defeats in their first two matches this week, 3-1 against United States and Brazil. Their 2017 World Grand Prix record now is five wins and three defeats.
• Netherlands could lose three matches in a row. This has not happened to them since four straight defeats in the 2013 campaign.
• Celeste Plak again led the Dutch team in scoring on Friday with 14 points.