The 2026 FIFA World Cup will bring some of the biggest and best football stars to the US, Mexico, and Canada next month.
The greatest of them all, Lionel Messi, will be there, hoping to go back-to-back with Argentina; Cristiano Ronaldo will lead the line for Portugal, huffing and puffing his way through another tournament; France’s attack will have — brace yourself — Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise, powerhouse Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram, Manchester City maverick Rayan Cherki, and Real Madrid’s World Cup specialist Kylian Mbappe.
But the World Cup’s biggest star, if you’ve been anywhere near social media this week, is none of these talents. It’s… New Zealand defender Tim Payne?
Payne, who plays in defence for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League when he’s not representing the All Whites, found his social media following exploding almost overnight as an online campaign to make him a star ahead of the beginning of the World Cup gathered pace.
View this post on InstagramLove Music?
Get your daily dose of everything happening in Australian/New Zealand music and globally.
The numbers are, frankly, ridiculous, with Payne’s Instagram following shooting up from 4,700 to 500,000 in mere hours.
It’s all thanks to an influencer all the way from Argentina, Valen Scarsini, who decided to attempt to make Payne the face of this year’s World Cup.
Scarsini chose Payne after judging him to be the World Cup’s “least-known player.”
He called on his fans to follow and boost the Instagram account of Payne, which they duly did.
@elscarso APARECIÓ TIM PAYNE 🥹‼️ Junto a Tim subimos este video a las redes ❤️ #tiktokdeportes #tiktokfootballacademy argentina🇦🇷 #futbol
Not usually one for posting on social media, even Payne had to acknowledge the incredible online campaign.
“Just wanna say a massive thank you to you first, Valen,” he said. “It’s been a pretty crazy 48 hours, to say the least.
“I also wanted to express that I’m very grateful to be representing my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from around the world – mucho gracias.”
At the time of writing, Payne’s Instagram follower count has grown even further, effortlessly breezing past the major one million mark.
View this post on Instagram
To put that into perspective, the bloody Prime Minister of New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, doesn’t have that many Instagram followers; nor do most of the All Blacks.
@enlaescuadra OJO CON TIM PAYNE #timpayne
Payne has spent his entire country in Aotearoa, joining Phoenix in 2019 where he’s been a regular starter ever since.
A proud utility player, he’s comfortable fitting in almost anywhere in defence and midfield.
@guapmotion THE MAIN CHARACTER OF THE 2026 WORLD CUP IS OFFICIALLY TIM PAYNE 🇳🇿🐐😭🔥🚨 Tim Payne World Cup meme #timpayne #newzealand #fifaworldcup #worldcup #guapmotion
Despite the implication of the TikTok campaign being that Payne is a solid but unspectacular player, nothing more, nothing less, he’s not complaining: being reliable on the pitch brought Payne to 50 caps for his country in March, when he reached the landmark tally in a 4-1 win over Chile (it was New Zealand’s first-ever win against a South American national team).
Check out some of the best Payne-oriented social media videos above.
