{"id":505237,"date":"2026-07-01T23:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/505237\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T23:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T23:33:15","slug":"tim-payne-reflects-on-world-cup-ahead-of-big-move-to-paraguay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/505237\/","title":{"rendered":"Tim Payne reflects on World Cup ahead of big move to Paraguay"},"content":{"rendered":"

All Whites defender Tim Payne has barely had a chance to catch his breath this past month.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old became a household name even before a ball had been kicked at the FIFA World Cup, becoming a social media sensation<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The All Whites’ World Cup ended in the group stages<\/a> after failing to secure the points required to advance. <\/p>\n

After landing back in New Zealand for a whistlestop visit, Payne told Breakfast he’s finally getting a chance to reflect on a crazy few weeks.<\/p>\n

“The beautiful thing from this is that this has all shone a light, I guess, on my football capabilities and that I’m just so excited to tackle this challenge in Paraguay head-on.”<\/p>\n

Payne’s transfer from the Wellington Phoenix to Paraguayan giants Olimpia<\/a> means he’ll barely get a break \u2013 the Paraguayan season is currently on hiatus for the World Cup until the end of the month.<\/p>\n

\"All<\/p>\n

All White Tim Payne plays against Iran (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

He said the pain of a group stage exit and a thrashing at the hands of Belgium<\/a> was still raw.<\/p>\n

“It probably doesn’t help that Belgium was the last game, but there’s very much a disappointing factor.<\/p>\n

“To be leading three different times at a World Cup and to only get a draw out of it, I think again, is disappointing.<\/p>\n

“But I know there’s a big sense, especially from the playing group – and I feel like I’m getting an understanding from the New Zealand public as well – that we went there and competed and played some football that we are proud of.”<\/p>\n

His assist for Finn Surman’s goal against Egypt<\/a> was a personal highlight.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Andrew Cornaga\/www.photosport.nz\/Andrew Cornaga\/www.photosport.nz)<\/p>\n

“It was a truly a proud moment, to have my family there as well was exceptional.<\/p>\n

“People like my mum and dad. My mum used to drive us hours everywhere and has given up so much for me – to have her there in the stands is pretty hard to sum up.<\/p>\n

“It’s again one of those things, it’s nice, but the main thing is that it contributed to us potentially getting a result in the game.”<\/p>\n

He remains typically nonchalant, however. <\/p>\n

“The individual stuff, it doesn’t really bother me, I’d rather have won that game 1-0 and not got an assist.”<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Tim Payne at the FIFA World Cup. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

Payne admits the sudden attention has come at a perfect time, when he’s settled with his family and at an age where he feels more adept at handling the pressure that comes with it.<\/p>\n

He’s been inundated with prospective commercial partners since his online following exploded to nearly six million on Instagram.<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t be able to put a number on it… There are lots,” he said.<\/p>\n

With the World Cup now in the rear-view mirror, Payne can now turn his attention to building off the back of a remarkable rise from relative obscurity.<\/p>\n

Watch all matches at the World Cup with an event pass on TVNZ+<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All Whites defender Tim Payne has barely had a chance to catch his breath this past month. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2965,2966,111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-505237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-all-whites","tag-fifa-world-cup","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}