SARASOTA, Florida — A video by Argentine content creator Valen Scarsini, known online as “El Scarso,” has rapidly increased the social media profile of New Zealand defender Tim Payne ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. In the clip, Scarsini identified Payne as the “least known” World Cup player based on Instagram following and urged followers to boost the defender’s presence.
Scarsini said he found Payne in Group G with fewer than 5,000 followers on Instagram. Following the shoutout, Payne’s following was approaching 1.5 million at the time of publication, topping Scarsini’s own 461,000 followers, according to the post. The surge also outpaced the New Zealand national team by more than 15 times, was close to 10 times the followers of Payne’s club Wellington, and exceeded the entire A-League Men competition’s following.
Scarsini has a history of elevating little-known teams and players, including a previous campaign that took FC Balzers — a fifth-division club from Liechtenstein — from single-digit engagement to about 440,000 followers in days, the video noted. The recent viral push has also dwarfed the Instagram following of notable Kiwi international Chris Wood, listed at 162,000.
The 32-year-old Payne’s April 2 Instagram collaboration with the All Whites marking his 50th international appearance received a wave of new comments, including messages from Mexican creators Mercedes Roa and Bastián Delfín. Payne messaged Scarsini in a direct message shared by the influencer, writing, “Was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post, man, appreciate the love! Gracias, hermano.” The player had not posted frequently before the spike and spent much of the past 48 hours traveling as New Zealand headed to Tampa for a pre-World Cup training camp.
Both Wellington Phoenix and the A-Leagues accounts have been active on social media in response. The league’s official account made four posts about Payne within eight hours while the Phoenix posted a highlight reel and a bemused reply to the surge in Latin American interaction, the reports say.
Payne is expected to contend with Callan Elliot for the right-back spot and is projected to feature in all three of the All Whites’ Group G matches. New Zealand, based in San Diego for the tournament, opens against Iran on June 15 in Los Angeles, faces Egypt in Vancouver on June 21 and Belgium in Vancouver on June 26.
