New Zealand defender Tim Payne (Picture: Getty) New Zealand footballer Tim Payne has become an overnight viral sensation after a social media stunt from a South American influencer sought to find the World Cup’s ‘least-known’ player. Payne, a defender for A-League side Wellington Phoenix, has seen his Instagram account grow from fewer than 5,000 to 1.7million and counting by Friday afternoon thanks to the work of Argentine influencer Valen Scarsini. Scarsini, known online as ‘elscarso’, shared a video encouraging his fans to follow and promote Payne’s account to grow his following ahead of the World Cup. ‘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 in a video that quickly went viral on Instagram and TikTok. ‘In Group G, in New Zealand, there is Tim Payne. He really is the least known. He doesn’t even have 5,000 followers! ‘What needs to be done to be the hero of the World Cup? First, follow Tim Payne. I’m going to tag him. Explode his posts with likes and comments. We need to start naming Tim Payne everywhere.’ Needless to say, social media listened, with Payne accruing well over a milion followers in a matter of days. Payne now boasts 1.7m follwers at the time of writing (Picture: Getty) His current total has comfortably surpassed that of Kiwi captain and Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood, as well as ‘elscarso’ himself, who has 461,000 followers. Scarsini has previously done similar viral stunts, helping FC Balzers, a fifth-division club from Liechtenstein, gain 440,000 followers in a matter of days after a Christmas post on their Instagram account garned just 15 likes. Payne, meanwhile, has since addressed his newfound fame in a video on Instagram from New Zealand’s pre-World Cup training camp in Florida. https://www.instagram.com/p/DY5SclgtX1-/ ‘Just want to say a massive thank you first to you, Valen, it’s been a pretty crazy 48 hours to say the least,’ he said. ‘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. ‘Muchas gracias.’ Payne and his fellow Kiwi teammates will get their World Cup campaign underway against Iran on June 15, before facing Egypt on June 21 and Belgium on June 26. For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.