Who is Tim Payne? Meet New Zealand's viral social media sensation at World Cup
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Who is Tim Payne? Meet New Zealand's viral social media sensation at World Cup originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
To exaggerate slightly: A couple months ago, no one knew Tim Payne. Now, everyone knows Tim Payne.
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The New Zealand footballer gained an absurd, exponential increase in social media following leading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
New Zealand is heavy underdogs at the tournament, but maybe the boost to Payne's renown will have a larger effect on the whole squad.
After all, this is a tournament that has already seen tiny Cape Verde draw Spain. If that can happen, so can some magic for New Zealand.
And hey, given Payne's sudden fame, maybe he'll step into the spotlight and seize the show.
MORE: Cape Verde pulls off one of craziest results in World Cup history
Who is Tim Payne?
Payne is a versatile 32-year old, defensive-minded player who is part of the New Zealand national team at the World Cup.
He plays his club football in the A-League in Australia for Wellington Phoenix.
He has also surpassed 50 career caps for New Zealand, a notable milestone.
What happened to Tim Payne to get so many followers?
Payne didn't go out of his way to increase his social following.
Before anything crazy happened, he had 4,715 followers on Instagram. That's when the influencer El Scarso, an Argentinian man named Valen Scarsini, identified Payne as the "least-known player" in the World Cup.
El Scarso marketed Payne on his own content, and other influencers followed suit.
As of Monday, before New Zealand plays its opening match, Payne has 5.7 million followers on Instagram.
So yeah, the wild social media campaign worked.
Payne has been thankful and acknowledged the whirlwind as something he is grateful for.
Now, he'll focus on taking the pitch and trying to help New Zealand shock the rest of the World Cup.