The reasons events like the World Cup are far more interesting is because it's over a shorter period of time.

I think the problem here isn't the event but rather the sport. Something like snooker or tennis will offer the same brevity over the period but with chance playing a less significant role due to the number of games played per match.

That all said, if my years of watching snooker has taught me anything, it's that people are not machines and thus will perform vastly different from day to day depending on how what mood they're in.