EVERY World Cup throws up new footballing trends with some important statistics indicating in which direction the next season will be heading.

WORLD CUP STATISTICS THAT MATTER

4 - Red cards. Germany's Jerome Boateng and Russia's Igor Smolnikov were sent packing for second bookable offences, while Switzerland's Michael Lang and Colombia's Carlos Sanchez were shown straight reds. It was the fewest number of dismissals since 1978.

9 - Of England's 12 goals, nine came from set plays - a World Cup record.

10 - Thomas Meunier's goal in the third-place play-off against England made him Belgium's 10th different scorer of the tournament, equalling the record set by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.

19 - There were 19 goals in second-half stoppage, seven more than at Brazil 2014.

20 - Croatia are ranked 20th in the world, making them the lowest-ranked side to make a World Cup final since rankings were introduced in 1992.

29 - Referees awarded 29 penalties, 11 more than the previous high of 18 in 1990, 1998 and 2002.

99.32 - The percentage of correct refereeing decisions made before the final - according to FIFA. The use of the video assistant referee (VAR) had increased the percentage of correct decisions, the world governing body said.

169 - In 64 games, 169 goals were scored at an average of 2.64, only slightly lower than that of 2014 (2.67). In the all-time list, that places the tournament just 15th of 21.

46,885 - The average attendance per game in Russia. A drop from Brazil 2014 (53,592) due to smaller stadium capacities. The last World Cup to have a smaller average was Japan and South Korea in 2002.

857,000 - The number of Swiss francs - equivalent to $A1.15 million - pocketed by FIFA for various disciplinary infringements. Of that figure 360,000 francs ($A485,000) were paid as punishment for players wearing non-regulation socks.