From 4,700 followers on Instagram to more than 1 million in just two days. The player Tim Paynewho will compete in the World Cup with New Zealand, is experiencing a curious viralization on social networks, after a influencer Argentine will describe him as “the least known footballer” of the 2026 World Cup.
Valen Scarsiniknown digitally as Scarso and with more than 700,000 followers on TikTok, he published a video that starts with a challenge: “What if we make the least known footballer the protagonist of the World Cup?”.
His expertise thought that the figure of Tim Payne would unite them all for the same cause, that is, the “we are all Tim Payne” strategy that finally worked very well.
Although there are dozens of footballers in the 2026 World Cup who are very little known internationally, especially from those modest teams such as Curacao, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cape Verde, among others, Scarso clarified that he did an analysis of all the teams and found that Tim Payne had the fewest followers on social networks..
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Who is New Zealander Tim Payne
Timothy John Payne was born in 1994 (32 years old) and plays as a right back for New Zealandalthough he can also do it as a midfielder. In addition to playing in his country, Tim has seen action in England; with Blackburn Rovers, and in the United States; with Portland Timbers 2.
He also wore the Auckland City shirt, the most winning club in New Zealand, and He currently plays for Wellington Phoenix FC of the A-League.
“Thank you very much for all the support. Excuse my Spanish,” Payne said in a video published this Thursday. Now with 1.7 million followers, the footballer thanked “the love from around the world.”
He also decided to speak in Spanish, since the initiative to make it viral comes from a influencer Argentinean. They even invented a fan song using his name, to the rhythm of cumbia and where they call him “the new Di María.”
For his part, content creator Scarso acknowledged that the trend got out of hand, making it clear that he did not expect that, as a result of his request, Tim Payne would become “a legend.”
New Zealand will play its third World Cup in historyan event where he has never won a match and has only scored four goals. The World Cup will start on June 15 for the oceanic teamdate on which Iran is measured. Next, they will play against Egypt (June 21) and will close the phase against Belgium (June 26).
Their last appearance in the World Cup had been in South Africa 2010, where curiously they tied all three matches in the group stage, leaving them just one point away from a historic qualification to the round of 16. At that time, it equaled Paraguay, Slovakia and Italy.
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