{"id":32570,"date":"2026-06-04T09:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=32570"},"modified":"2026-06-04T09:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T08:31:15","slug":"new-zealands-tim-payne-gains-4-9m-followers-after-viral-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/04\/new-zealands-tim-payne-gains-4-9m-followers-after-viral-push\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand\u2019s Tim Payne Gains 4.9M Followers After Viral Push"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New Zealand defender Tim Payne\u2019s sudden rise to global fame has continued to draw attention after Argentine influencer Valen Scarsini, known as \u201cEl Scarso,\u201d propelled him into the spotlight. Payne\u2019s Instagram following surged from just 4,000 to nearly 4.9 million in less than a week, eclipsing the All Blacks rugby team\u2019s 2.8 million. The viral campaign began when Scarsini called Payne the \u201cleast known\u201d player at the World Cup, sparking an avalanche of support from his massive online community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair met at New Zealand\u2019s training camp in Florida, where Payne presented Scarsini with a team shirt in appreciation. Payne said the exposure was positive for both himself and New Zealand football but stressed that he remained grounded. \u201cIt puts a light on us which is a positive thing but at the same time, for me, I don\u2019t change,\u201d he said. \u201cI just keep trying to do what I do, which is play football and focus on trying to perform for my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Scarsini, who traveled to Florida to watch New Zealand\u2019s pre-World Cup friendly against Haiti, joked with Payne to \u201cfly to Argentina\u201d when asked why he had chosen him for the viral push. The match ended in a 4-0 defeat, but the influencer\u2019s presence highlighted the unusual intersection of football and social media, where a single campaign can transform an athlete\u2019s profile overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Payne\u2019s meteoric rise has sparked conversation about the power of digital platforms to reshape sports narratives, offering visibility to players who might otherwise remain obscure. For New Zealand, the attention provides a rare boost ahead of their World Cup campaign, where they will face Iran, Egypt, and Belgium in Group G. The episode underscores how online communities can redefine fame, turning a relatively unknown defender into one of the most followed athletes in the tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New Zealand defender Tim Payne\u2019s sudden rise to global fame has continued to draw attention after Argentine influencer Valen Scarsini, known as \u201cEl Scarso,\u201d propelled him into the spotlight. Payne\u2019s Instagram following surged from just 4,000 to nearly 4.9 million in less than a week, eclipsing the All Blacks rugby team\u2019s 2.8 million. The viral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":32572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,4,5,7],"tags":[18417,18416,18410,18415,18413,18409,18411,18418],"class_list":["post-32570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-featured","category-international","category-sports","tag-digital-platforms-sports-visibility","tag-footballer-instagram-explosion","tag-new-zealand-football-viral-fame","tag-new-zealand-vs-haiti-friendly","tag-social-media-influencer-football-impact","tag-tim-payne-instagram-followers","tag-valen-scarsini-el-scarso","tag-world-cup-2026-new-zealand-squad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Tim-Payne-1780150099882-2ccsn8.webp?fit=1297%2C802&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32570"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32574,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32570\/revisions\/32574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}