I think there’s more nuance to the 7 game tournament thing.

Realistically, the World Cup needs to be fit into a period of 2-3 weeks for logistical and tv rights reasons. And as well, a single elimination tournament format is not the best way to judge the quality of a team. There are a lot of ways the format is a poorer judge of the question “which country is best at soccer” than, for example, a more traditional league format would be.

Another example is that giant slaying is fun in single elimination domestic cups, but the first division is always a better indication of team quality.

None of this takes away from winning the trophy.

Let’s he honest, Messi would get the same heroes reception if he walked in Camp Nou in a Miami jersey tomorrow.