Influencer
Argentine Creator Turns ‘Least-Known’ World Cup Player Into a 2.9M-Follower Account
An Argentine influencer’s campaign to promote the “least-known” player at the 2026 FIFA World Cup pushed New Zealand defender Tim Payne from fewer than 5,000 Instagram followers to 2.9 million in roughly four days, surpassing the All Blacks’ 2.8 million-follower account.
Valen Scarsini, who operates as “El Scarso” and has 697,000 TikTok and 458,000 Instagram followers, published a video calling on his audience to follow Payne, flood his posts with comments, and create content around him. The video drew more than six million views across both platforms.
“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,” Scarsini said. “Tim Payne is a defender and has a very difficult task: help New Zealand win their first World Cup match. They have never won one.”
Payne, a 32-year-old Wellington Phoenix fullback in New Zealand’s 26-man squad, had posted twice on Instagram in 2026 before the campaign launched. His follower count crossed 1 million within 24 hours. A single post on his profile, marking his 50th New Zealand appearance in March, received more than 50,000 comments.
How Payne Responded
Payne said he received “a few random notifications” at New Zealand’s pre-World Cup camp in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, without initially understanding their source. “My Spanish isn’t great,” he said in an interview distributed by NZ Football. “So I passed it on to my missus, who is fluent in Spanish and was able to let me know what it was saying.”
In a video posted to his own account, Payne addressed Scarsini directly: “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 represent my country at this World Cup, and I appreciate all the love from all around the world.”
Previous Campaigns
Scarsini ran a comparable effort for FC Balzers, a second-tier Swiss club he described as having “the smallest fan base,” pushing their follower count above that of Swiss champions FC Basel. A popular Mexican football account directed its following to Sunderland at the start of the 2025/2026 season in a similar fashion.
New Zealand, the tournament’s lowest-ranked side, open Group G play against Iran in Los Angeles on June 15, before facing Egypt and Belgium.
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