New Zealand World Cup player finds social media fame after being named by soccer influencer
New Zealand defender Tim Payne has gained unexpected fame on social media after being highlighted by an Argentine soccer influencer. Valen Scarsini, known as El Scarso, encouraged his followers to support Payne, who was identified as the least-known player at the upcoming World Cup. As a result, Payne's Instagram following surged from around 4,700 to over a million in just a few days.
- ▪Tim Payne is a 32-year-old defender for New Zealand's national soccer team.
- ▪His social media following increased dramatically after being named by influencer Valen Scarsini.
- ▪Payne's follower count grew to over a million, surpassing that of New Zealand's captain Chris Wood.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/zealand-world-cup-player-finds-000753472.html","headline":"New Zealand World Cup player finds social media fame after being named by soccer influencer","datePublished":"2026-05-29T00:07:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-29T00:07:53.000Z","keywords":["Tim Payne","New Zealand","World Cup","Valen Scarsini","Nottingham Forest","Argentina","Chris Wood","Mexico","Canada","Iran","Belgium","Egypt"],"description":"New Zealand defender Tim Payne has become an unlikely soccer superstar after an influencer from Argentina called on his followers to unite and make the...","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Yahoo Sports.