The TSG at Russia 2018 was headed by Carlos Alberto Parreira, Brazil's 1994 World Cup-winning manager.

He was joined by former Netherlands forward Marco van Basten, FIFA’s chief technical development officer, as well as Nigeria’s Emmanuel Amunike, Serbia’s Bora Milutinović, Scotland’s Andy Roxburgh and Switzerland’s Pascal Zuberbühler, a goalkeeping specialist in FIFA’s Technical Development Division.

It was overseen by FIFA’s Coaching and Player Development Department led by Croatia’s Branimir Ujević.

Among the key findings in the report was that keeping the ball was not key to success as the team with the most average ball possession per match, Spain with 69 per cent, failed to progress from the round of 16, while champions France were 19th in the overall possession ranking.

Serbia were the hardest-running team at the tournament, covering an average of 113 kilometres per game.

By contrast, France were 28th in this respect, averaging 101km per match.

Shooting efficiency from outside the penalty area improved dramatically; the average strike rate was a goal per 29 long-range attempts, compared to one in 42 at Brazil 2014.

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, one in every 29 corners led to a goal, whereas the figure was 61 at South Africa 2010 and 36 at Brazil 2014.

This trend of superior effectiveness continued through the knock-out stage in Russia, where teams scored from one in every 31 corners compared to every 41 in Brazil.

So-called playmakers were seen less at the 2018 World Cup with the way teams played cited as a possible reason for this.

But there were still some outstanding individuals in this area with Paul Pogba of France excelling and Croatia’s Luka Modrić, the 2018 World Cup Golden Ball winner, shining above all others.

"As mentioned during the recent FIFA Football Conference in London, this is a new approach to the TSG report, which is a modern working tool providing relevant insight into where the game is going," Zvonimir Boban, FIFA’s deputy secretary general, said.

"It’s also another example of how FIFA is using technology to enhance football analysis."

The full TSG report for the 2018 World Cup is accessible here and has been distributed to FIFA’s Member Associations.

France clinched their second FIFA World Cup crown by beating Croatia 4-2 in a highly entertaining final at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Didier Deschamps' side repeated the success on home soil at France 1998.

In the report’s foreword, Boban states: "France were worthy winners.

"Under the steady stewardship of Didier Deschamps, who had a clear and precise vision of how to make the most of the players at his disposal and go all the way, they were the most settled and assured performers overall."

The TSG reports have been produced since the 1966 FIFA World Cup and are available here.