Argentine social media personality El Scarso set out to find the World Cup's most obscure player and accidentally made him famous. Tim Payne, New Zealand's 32-year-old defender, had fewer than 5,000 Instagram followers when El Scarso called him out in late May. He now has 5.7 million.
El Scarso's original goal was actually wholesome — he wanted to find a player who could "unite us all" and scoured every squad's social media to find the one flying most under the radar. He landed on Payne.
"After analyzing them one by one, I found him. In Group G, in New Zealand, there is Tim Payne," El Scarso said. "He really is the least known. He doesn't even have 5,000 followers!"
The internet, characteristically, took this as a declaration of war on Payne's behalf. Within 48 hours, Payne was posting gratitude. Within weeks, he was meeting El Scarso in person and handing him a kit.
"The past week has been a crazy ride, but thanks to @elscarso for everything he has done for myself, my family and NZ football," Payne wrote. "Great meeting you in person today mate."
Who is Tim Payne, actually?
He's not a fringe player who stumbled into a World Cup squad. Payne made his senior debut for New Zealand back in 2012 and has 52 caps heading into the All Whites' opening group game against Iran. He's scored three international goals, including one in a 7-0 demolition of Fiji during qualifying, and added three assists in that same run.
Club-wise, he's been a fixture at Wellington Phoenix in Australia's A-League Men since 2019 — 143 appearances, four goals, and under contract through the 2027-28 season. Before that, stints at Eastern Suburbs AFC and a year with the Portland Timbers' reserve squad.
A solid, experienced defender. Not a superstar. Exactly the kind of player who gets 4,800 followers and quietly goes about his business — until the internet decides otherwise.
What 5.7 million followers actually means
To put it in context: Cristiano Ronaldo has 666 million Instagram followers. Lionel Messi has 506 million. Payne is not catching either of them. But 5.7 million from a standing start of under 5,000 in the space of a few weeks is a visibility explosion that most professional footballers never experience in an entire career.
He's now among the most-followed New Zealanders on Instagram — not far off singer Lorde's 11 million. That's the kind of profile that makes kit sponsors pay attention and puts New Zealand football on casual viewers' radars for the first time.
Whether any of this translates to performance against Iran on Monday is another question entirely. But as storylines go, this one wrote itself — and El Scarso handed Payne the pen.
