A New Zealand defender most football fans had never heard of has become an unlikely social media sensation — all because an Argentine content creator decided to find the World Cup's most obscure player and make him famous.

Tim Payne, a 32-year-old defender who plays for Wellington Phoenix and has represented the All Whites 50 times, watched his Instagram following surge from under 5,000 to 600,000 in just a few days. That figure surpasses the combined follower count of New Zealand's all-time record goalscorer Chris Wood and prime minister Christopher Luxon.

The man behind the campaign

Valen Scarsini — known online as 'elscarso' — sparked the movement by posting a video to his 697,000 TikTok followers and 458,000 Instagram followers, declaring he had scoured every World Cup squad to identify the tournament's least-recognised player.