As Tim Payne continues to amass followers on his Instagram account; 4.8 million at the time of this publication, soccer fans are also pouring their support into New Zealand, which will participate in the third World Cup in its history.

The “Tim Payne phenomenon”, caused by the Argentine influencer Scarso, has escalated to unimaginable levels. He went from being the least known player to the most famous and viral of the 2026 edition.

Even because he is 32 years old, analysts have added the New Zealander to the list of legends who will compete in his last World Cup, that is, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and “Memo” Ochoa. Crazy!

Read also: Cristiano Ronaldo will play in the 2026 World Cup at 41 years old: Who is the oldest striker in history

How far could New Zealand and Tim Payne go in the 2026 World Cup?

The All Whites Kiwis, pseudonym of the Oceanic team, qualified for the World Cup as champions of the continental qualifiers. Of course, in the final they faced New Caledonia, ranked 151 in the FIFA ranking (New Zealand is 85).

This means that, despite the impressive 3-0 to obtain the place, it is also true that they arrive as one of the most modest teams. But be careful with group G, which includes Egypt, Iran and Belgium.

Their first rival is Iran, which is in a surprising 21st place in the FIFA world rankings, and next they go against Egypt. If together with Tim Payne they achieve positive results, the match against Belgium; surely the most complicated, it would end up being a procedure.

It should be noted that the Oceanic team has never won a match in the two World Cups it has played, but curiously, in its last participation (South Africa 2010) it tied all three matches: against Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay, finishing third in group F.

If they obtain a historic classification to the round of 16, their rival would be in groups H, K and L. This means that they would face any of the following countries, depending on how the groups are: Spain, Uruguay, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan, Colombia, England, Croatia, Ghana or Panama.

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