NZ's 'least-known' World Cup player Tim Payne reacts to shock 1M following

One New Zealand footballer has shot to fame thanks to an Argentinian influencer’s online campaign to promote the World Cup’s “least-known” player.

New Zealand defender Tim Payne had just 4K followers on Instagram 48 hours ago and was given the title by influencer Valen Scarsini.

“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,” Valen said in his initial video.

Valen called on his followers and fellow football lovers to follow and boost the profile of the Wellington Phoenix and All Whites player.

Since Valen’s first video was posted to Instagram on May 27, Tim woke up this morning to a massive 1 million followers, with the number continuing to grow - at the time of writing, the Kiwi footballer has gained another 100,000.

Taking to social media, Tim shared a message of thanks to his new followers and the support from the Argentinian internet personality.

“Just wanna say a massive thank you to you first, Valen. 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.”

Valen also shared a post congratulating everyone for getting behind the Kiwi footballer.

“Thank you all for getting on the Tim Payne ship,” he wrote.

“It’s crazy what we’re living through amongst everyone; more surprises are coming because this is just getting started.”

The pressure’s on though, because until today, the latest post from the NZ defender was seven weeks ago, marking his 50th All Whites match on home soil. Before that, Tim hadn’t posted on social media for a year.

As they say, “with great power comes great responsibility”, and we’re keen to see what Tim does with his new following.