'Least-known player' at World Cup goes viral overnight and gains over 1.5 million followers

A player from New Zealand who was identified as the "least-known" player at the 2026 World Cup has gained more than 1.5 million followers thanks to an influencer from Argentina.

Tim Payne, who plays his club football for Australian A-League side Wellington Phoenix, was named in Darren Bazeley's 26-man squad for this summer's tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

At the start of the week, Payne was relatively unknown to the wider footballing world. The 32-year-old former Blackburn defender had around 4,000 Instagram followers after posting just 60 times in 12 years.

But that all changed when El Scarso, a popular football influencer also known as Valen Scarsini, urged his followers to "explode his posts with likes and comments".

Speaking in one of his videos, Scarsini explained his mission. "I looked at all the teams that play the World Cup for the least-known player and, after analysing one by one, I found it," he said on TikTok.

"Tim Payne is a defender and has a very difficult task: help New Zealand win their first World Cup match. They have never won one. What needs to be done to be the hero of the World Cup? First, follow Tim Payne. I'm going to tag him.

"Explode his posts with likes and comments. We need to start naming Tim Payne everywhere. You have to make videos feeding the legend of Tim Payne. If you have the World Cup album, upload a photo with your sticker."

In a separate video the following day, Scarsini revealed that Payne had messaged him saying: "Was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post, man. Appreciate the love! Gracias, hermano."

Payne has since posted a video message from New Zealand's pre-World Cup training camp in Florida, which has received more than 1.2 million likes and 77,000 comments at the time of writing.

Speaking initially in Spanish, Payne said: "Please excuse my Spanish, I'm still practising on Duolingo."

He then continued in English, adding: "Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen, it's been a pretty crazy 48 hours to say the least. I just wanted to also express that I'm very grateful to represent my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world. Muchas gracias."

Payne is now the most followed player from Bazeley's New Zealand squad by some distance. To put his growth into perspective, international teammate Chris Wood, a Premier League-level player, has 162,000 followers.