Thomas Delaney might not have been at the World Cup. Not because Denmark coach Age Hareide was on the fence about picking him; after a season in which Delaney excelled for Werder Bremen and earned a €20 million move to Borussia Dortmund, that was never in question.
Instead, Delaney might have been watching the whole thing from his couch, because he could have played for the United States.
Delaney was born in Copenhagen, but qualifies to play for America through his father, a U.S. citizen despite being born in Denmark too. The rather "un-Danish-sounding" name is explained because his great-grandfather moved to the United States from Ireland during the potato famine in the 1800s, surely making him the first U.S.-eligible Irish-sounding Dane in football history.
Delaney, who came through at FC Copenhagen, considered representing America after having talks with then-U.S. under-23 coach Caleb Porter in 2012.
"I talked to Caleb," Delaney said at the time. "He called me along with another person from the U.S. federation. He just wanted to talk to me about the team and how they work. He heard about me and saw some videos. He asked if I was eligible."
Eligible he was, because at that stage Delaney was just 20, and had only appeared for Denmark at youth level. Ultimately, he chose to represent the nation of his birth, but his career would have taken a much different route had he opted for the U.S. Who knows, maybe he might have helped them to Russia himself.
But as it is, he's probably the closest thing the U.S. has to involvement this month. There are a couple of other players with American connections: Japan's Gotoku Sakai was born in New York but moved to his current home when he was 2, while Costa Rica's Rodney Wallace is actually a U.S. citizen but was born in San Jose.
But in all likelihood, neither of those men would have made much difference to the U.S. team's doomed qualifying campaign. Delaney might have, though; he's certainly good enough.
Left-footed, energetic, tough and with an eye for a pass, Delaney can be whatever sort of midfielder you want him to be. For Werder he's operated as a deep playmaker and a more attacking midfielder, but for Denmark he's all things to all midfield men.
Arguably the most impressive thing about Delaney is his ability in the air. He scored two headers in a hat-trick against Poland during the qualifiers, a fine leap combined with that ever-ephemeral sense of timing making him a fearsome prospect, despite not being a giant.
Hareide is a fan. "He's a box-to-box player," he said on Tuesday. "Very active, very important offensively. He gets into the box, and scored important goals for us in qualifiers. He'll develop even further now that he's going to Dortmund."
These days, €20 million isn't a transfer fee to get particularly excited about, but that doesn't mean Dortmund don't have a gem on their hands. Delaney said there were "offers" from the Premier League, hardly a surprise given his physical style of play. But the switch to the Westfalenstadion represents the apex of a rapid rise that has seen him go from the Danish league to Dortmund, via a hugely impressive season at Werder, in less than 18 months, becoming a key man for Denmark on the way.
With the national side, Delaney is a great foil for Christian Eriksen. The Tottenham playmaker is such a standout talent that it would be easy for Denmark's opponents to concentrate only on him. But if they devote their attentions to Eriksen, that's all the more space for Delaney to exploit.
Neither player especially dazzled in Denmark's World Cup opener, a game they won thanks to a Yussuf Poulsen goal (set up by Eriksen). But a victory over Australia in their second game on Wednesday would almost certainly guarantee a place in the round of 16, avoiding the need to beat France in the final fixture.
"Mentally you have to be strong, that's the important point," said Hareide. "You have to be ready in the head."
Meanwhile, in an alternative universe, American international Thomas Delaney is preparing to lead the U.S. team into their eighth successive World Cup campaign, providing the ammunition for Christian Pulisic and Co. What might have been.