Tim Payne surges from 4,700 to 500,000 after viral push
tim payne went from about 4,700 followers to half a million after Argentine internet personality El Scarso pushed him as the least-known player at this year’s Fifa World Cup. The All Whites and Wellington Phoenix defender now has the biggest following for any New Zealand-related football account, a jump driven by one Spanish-language campaign.
Valen Scarsini, known online as El Scarso, said in the viral video that he had looked across the tournament teams to find the least-known player and landed on Payne. He urged viewers to follow him, fill his posts with likes and comments, and keep naming him online. The result was immediate: one of Payne’s pictures moved from 276 likes to 250,000.
El Scarso's World Cup push
Nearly 4 million Instagram views and more than 2 million TikTok views turned the clip into a cross-platform lift, not just a one-off post. Scarsini, who has 12.6 million TikTok followers and nearly 14 million followers across social media accounts, framed Payne as a defender with a difficult job: help New Zealand win its first World Cup match after never winning one.
He also said, “I looked at all the teams that play the World Cup for the least-known player and, after analysing one by one, I found it,” before naming Payne in New Zealand’s group. Another line in the video made the pitch blunt: “What needs to be done to be the hero of the World Cup? First, follow Tim Payne. I’m going to tag him.”
Payne's social jump
About 4,700 followers before the surge was a modest baseline for an international defender, especially one Scarsini described as the tournament’s least-known player. Half a million later, the same account sits in a different tier, with the follow count now outstripping the usual reach of a national-team squad player.
250,000 likes on a single picture is the most concrete sign that the audience did more than watch and move on. Spanish-speaking personalities including comedian Javier Ibarreche and sports journalist Iker Ruiz del Barco helped extend that push, turning the story into a broader online adoption rather than a niche football joke.
Instagram message from Payne
“Was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post, man,” Payne wrote to Scarsini on Instagram, before adding, “Appreciate the love! Gracias, hermano.” Scarsini later posted a follow-up video showing the exchange, which turned a follower spike into a direct interaction between the player and the person who drove it.
That leaves Payne with a larger audience and a bigger public profile than he had a day earlier, all from a campaign built around attention rather than match action. For a defender who started near 4,700 followers, the real shift is not just the half-million mark; it is that his account has become a visible destination for a global audience that was told exactly where to look.
