Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi has joined Facebook and landed almost seven million followers inside seven hours.

GettyImagesLionel Messi has finally arrived on facebook.

Messi, who has won the World Player of the Year award twice, joined the social networking site on Wednesday and wrote as his first post: "I am so excited! From now on we will be more closely connected through facebook."

He joins Barcelona team-mates Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, David Villa and Pedro and Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga players with official fan pages on the site.

Messi, who doesn't have a Twitter account, has scored 45 goals for defending Spanish champions Barcelona this season.