How New Zealand’s ‘least-known World Cup player’ is handling his newfound social media fame

New Zealand defender Tim Payne is navigating an unexpected surge in social media fame as he prepares for the World Cup, bringing an unusual spotlight to the tournament’s lowest-ranked nation.

In less than a week, Payne’s Instagram following has skyrocketed from 4,715 to an astonishing 4.2m.

This dramatic increase began after an Argentine influencer declared him the least-known player at the World Cup and urged his audience to engage with his profile.

New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley admitted he didn’t fully grasp the mechanics of viral social media but affirmed Payne was handling the attention admirably.

“I’m not very social media-savvy. From my understanding it’s obviously a big deal, the numbers they’re talking about is huge,” Bazeley told reporters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

“I think Tim’s dealing with it really well. He’s probably the type of person who doesn’t get over-excited with too much. He knows why he’s here and what he wants to get from this tournament, from this tour.”

Bazeley added: “I’m sure the boys are giving him a bit of stick along the way. I think he’s got a song and stuff like that.”

The influencer, Valen Scarsini, known as “elscarso” on Instagram and TikTok, ignited the phenomenon last week. Payne’s Instagram audience has since surpassed many prominent New Zealand figures, including cricketer Kane Williamson (3.3m followers) and the All Blacks rugby team (2.8m followers).

Payne himself posted a video last Friday, thanking Scarsini in Spanish and describing the preceding 48 hours as “pretty crazy.” His feed is now filled with messages of goodwill in numerous languages, with one follower writing: “Our GOAT. No Payne, no gain.”

Scarsini has since announced on his own Instagram that he is flying to Florida to watch the All Whites’ World Cup warm-up friendly against Haiti and plans to meet Payne after the match.

New Zealand midfielder Marko Stamenic expressed his happiness for Payne, confident it would not affect his focus.

“It honestly just shows the power of social media,” he said.”He’s fully focused on what task we have here.”

Bazeley reflected on the unusual turn of events: “Sometimes you think you won’t see anything that’s different. It’s a game of football, 11 v 11, same pitch, same ball. But we’ve come here and something different has happened with this.”