The only areas the 7.62mm beats the 5.56mm is range (but not by much - that little bullet goes pretty far at those velocities, that's why it tends to be the round of choice for varmint hunters), punching through brush and penetration of hard surfaces. I will caveat that by saying the 5.56mm is far more effective at chewing through sandbags, and that not even a .50 cal can penetrate the walls in Kandahar. We literally have to use the APFSDS rounds from the 25mm.
Are there potentially better combat rounds than the 5.56mm? Definately. I'd be very curious to get some real-world experience with the 6.8mm SPC for example. Is it the 7.62mm NATO? No. It's a good machine gun cartridge, I don't see anything better on the horizon. As a combat round in an automatic rifle? It was a compromise in 1954, when even then there were better rounds in development. I'd like to see a man in every section with a 7.62mm DMR, but it is long obsolete in a select-fire infantryman's rifle.
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