An Auckland councillor got an unexpected thrill when he attended last night’s FIFA Women’s World Cup game at Eden Park.

Heading along to see Spain play Sweden, North Shore’s Richard Hills was delighted to find himself brushing shoulders with Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster who plays cocky football legend Jamie Tartt in the AppleTV+ series.

Nabbing a photo with Dunster who is in Auckland for the WWC, Hills shared the snap to Twitter and noted he’s “a massive fan” of the Emmy Award-winning show about an American coach leading a bumbling yet spirited British football team to the Premier League.

Hill tweeted: “I’m a massive Ted Lasso fan, so it was awesome to meet & have a chat with Phil Dunster who played Jamie on the show. Such a nice, genuine guy, he obviously said all the right things too, like how much he liked Auckland and thought the FIFA WWC had been hugely successful here.”

Sharing the same image to Instagram, he also confessed he was “definitely starstruck but I played it cool”.

Hills’ almost 25,000 Twitter followers were quick to tweet their surprise and envy at his serendipitous run-in with Dunster.

And while some pledged their allegiance to the star’s on-screen rival, Roy Kent played by Brett Goldstein, it was also pointed out that Hills had managed to catch another famous football face in his shot: Australasian Player of the Century, Wynton Rufer, who can be seen “photo-bombing” the snap behind the councillor’s shoulder.

Dunster, whose on-screen character of a prodigious yet arrogant player has seen him travel the world supporting football, also took to Instagram to share an image from last night’s game which saw Spain slide into the finals with a 2-1 victory over Sweden.

But he’s not the only Ted Lasso cast member who has made their way to New Zealand recently.

Last week Brendan Hunt, who plays Coach Beard, was seen at the Cloud fan zone on Queen’s Wharf enjoying a beer and watching the game.

And while not here for the football, Goldstein appeared in a Les Mills promotional video in June, collaborating with the New Zealand-founded company to promote “a happier and healthier way” of working out.

Outlet The Drum revealed the ad, which sees Goldstein in a gritty, action-film-style training sequence, was shot in New Zealand.