Unknown World Cup player suddenly becomes famous overnight, gaining over 1.5 million followers!
A New Zealand footballer, once called the “least-known” player at the 2026 World Cup, has suddenly gained over 1.5 million followers thanks to a football influencer from Argentina.
Tim Payne, who plays for Wellington Phoenix in the Australian A-League, was picked by coach Darren Bazeley for New Zealand’s 26-man squad for this summer’s tournament in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
At the start of the week, not many people knew about Payne. The 32-year-old former Blackburn defender had only around 4,000 Instagram followers and had posted just 60 times in 12 years.
Everything changed when El Scarso, a popular football influencer named Valen Scarsini, asked his fans to flood Payne’s posts with likes and comments.
In one of his TikTok videos, Scarsini explained his plan: “I checked all the World Cup teams for the least-known player and found him. Tim Payne is a defender with a tough job: help New Zealand win their first World Cup game. They’ve never won before. So, follow Tim Payne, and let’s get him known everywhere. Like and comment on his posts a lot! Make videos about him and share your World Cup stickers with his name.”
The next day, Scarsini shared that Payne reached out to him, saying, “I was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post. Thanks for the love! Gracias, hermano.”
Payne then shared a video from New Zealand’s training camp in Florida. It has over 1.2 million likes and 77,000 comments so far.
Starting in Spanish, Payne said, “Please excuse my Spanish, I’m still practicing on Duolingo.” Then in English, he added, “A big thank you to you, Valen. It’s been a wild 48 hours! I’m proud to represent my country at the World Cup, and I’m grateful for all the support from around the world. Muchas gracias.”
Now, Payne is by far the most followed player on New Zealand’s team. To give you an idea, his teammate Chris Wood, who plays at the Premier League level, has 162,000 followers.