New Zealand defender Tim Payne goes from 4,700 to one million Instagram followers in 48 hours

New Zealand defender Tim Payne had roughly 4,700 Instagram followers at the start of this week. By Friday, that number had surpassed one million — a rise of almost 1,000 per minute — after Argentine football influencer El Scarso singled him out as the least-known player at the upcoming World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

El Scarso, whose real name is Valen Scarsini and who has more than 500,000 followers of his own, said he had searched through every squad at the tournament looking for the player with the smallest social media presence. He landed on the 32-year-old All Whites centre-back. “In group G, in New Zealand, there is Tim Payne,” Scarsini said. “He really is the least known. He doesn’t even have 5,000 followers.”

Scarsini then called on his audience to “start mentioning Tim Payne everywhere” and to make videos “feeding the legend” of the defender, even suggesting fans photograph his sticker in their World Cup albums. The campaign quickly took on a life of its own, producing a Spanish-language song in Payne’s honour whose chorus includes the line “no Payne, no gain.”

Payne’s new following now stands at six times that of New Zealand captain and Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, the country’s best-known footballer. Payne himself acknowledged the surge on Friday, responding directly to Scarsini online.

“Was wondering why my socials were blowing up and found your post, man,” Payne wrote. “Appreciate the love! Gracias, hermano. I just want to say a massive thank you first to you Valen. It’s been a pretty crazy 48 hours to say the least. I just wanted to also express that I’m very grateful to be representing my country and I appreciate all the love from all around the world.”

Payne recently made his 50th international appearance for New Zealand, having debuted for the All Whites at 18. New Zealand are appearing at the World Cup for only the third time, having previously qualified in 1982 and 2010, and are yet to win a match at the tournament. They face Belgium, Iran and Egypt in Group G.