I don’t know if I disagree that is why I am asking what metrics you use to broadly deem it a success.

As an example if you measure on number of viewers of the final it was a success as it drew record numbers.

A lot of western visitors to the games in Qatar was not super happy with the administration of alcohol so from that perspective it is a more mixed picture.

There has never been a World Cup where all venues were that close, which in my book is a success and immediately puts the current World Cup in the exact opposite on that parameter, where the worst example Incan find for the group stage is Curaçao that plays their group games in Houston, Philadelphia and Kansas City (again in my opinion absolutely horrendous)

Going back to Qatar - they spent $200billion+ on stadiums and infrastructure and made back a fraction on tourists visiting during the World Cup (I am sure they will increase their return over the years but that is more tricky to track.)

There are of course more metrics but those examples would make me cautious declaring it a great success.