New Zealand star Payne will continue his career in Paraguay after the 2026 World Cup

Wellington Phoenix and New Zealand defender Tim Paine will switch clubs after the 2026 World Cup. This was reported by insider Fabrizio Romano. According to the source, the 32-year-old football player reached a verbal agreement to transfer to the Paraguayan club Olympia. It is expected that the parties will finalize the transfer after the completion of the player's performances at the World Cup. Payne became one of the most talked about media figures of the tournament. On the eve of the World Cup, his story unexpectedly received a great response on social networks: Argentinean influencer Valentina Scarsini drew attention to the player, who had a minimal number of followers, and urged the audience to follow him. As a result, in a few days, the number of followers of the football player increased to one million, and later exceeded 5.7 million. At the same time, New Zealand began its journey at the World Cup with a draw against Iran (). In the next match, the team will play against Egypt (June 22 at 04:00).