Football and showbiz stars gathered on Friday for the celebrity “wedding of the century” in Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi’s Argentine hometown as he prepared to marry his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo.

Pop star Shakira and her husband, Messi’s team-mate Gerard Pique, were expected among the 260 guests, according to sources close to the event and local media, which dubbed it the biggest wedding in decades in the city of Rosario.

They will join old friends of the couple and footballers including his Barcelona strike partners Neymar and Luis Suarez.

Suarez and other football stars were watched by curious locals as they stepped off private jets on Thursday in the northern port city where the couple met as children.

Former Barca and current Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas was also expected, as well as Argentina and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero.

Earlier, the public relations company organising the event warned in a statement that the ceremony will be “strictly private.”

Television crews and reporters gathered at the wedding venue hoping for a glimpse of the couple or at least some of their guests.