The 66th Ballon d'Or is set to be awarded this evening (Monday, October 17) in Paris, with many players hoping to follow in the footsteps of icons such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema is the red-hot favorite to win football's most prestigious individual honor. The French forward scored 44 times in 46 appearances across competitions as Los Blancos secured a La Liga and Champions League double last term.Ballon d'Or #ballondor@francefootballGood morning from Paris! Today is the day... #ballondor5868566Good morning from Paris! 👋🇫🇷 Today is the day... #ballondor https://t.co/WRfC98iGoUThis year's prize is the first in history to be awarded for performances over a season rather than in a calendar year. The Ballon d'Or is being awarded much earlier than usual, with the upcoming FIFA World Cup set to take place later in the year.Lionel Messi is the current record holder in terms of how many times he has won the award, with seven wins in total. He has won the past two Ballon d'Ors, although the prize was not given out in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.The award will certainly leave Messi's grasp this evening, as the Paris Saint-Germain forward has not even been nominated for the historic trophy. Cristiano Ronaldo is second on the list of wins with five and although the Manchester United striker has been nominated this year, it is unlikely he will win it.Luka Modric of Real Madrid and Croatia is the only man the past 14 years not named Cristiano Ronaldo or Messi to win the Ballon d'Or. Robert Lewandowski, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are among the favorites to win in Paris, but are unlikely to be chosen ahead of Benzema.UEFA Champions League@ChampionsLeague🥇 Who's your pick for the 2022 Ballon d'Or?#ballondor || #UCL356592010🥇 Who's your pick for the 2022 Ballon d'Or?#ballondor || #UCL https://t.co/gwrJxAF6uOList of previous Ballon d'Or winners with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the waySince the Ballon d'Or's inception in 1956, Messi and Ronaldo have won nearly 20% of all the titles. Below is a list of every winner of the prize, from Sir Stanley Matthews in 1956, to Messi in 2021:YearWinnerClubNation1956Sir Stanley MatthewsBlackpoolEngland1957Alfredo Di StefanoReal MadridSpain1958Raymond KopaReal MadridFrance1959Alfredo Di StefanoReal MadridSpain1960Luis SuarezBarcelonaSpain1961Omar SivoriJuventusItaly1962Josef MasopustDukla PragueCzechoslovakia1963Lev YashinDynamo MoscowUSSR1964Dennis LawManchester UnitedScotland1965EusebioBenficaPortugal1966Sir Bobby CharltonManchester UnitedEngland1967Florian AlbertFerencvarosHungary1968George BestManchester UnitedNorthern Ireland1969Gianni RiveraAC MilanItaly1970Gerd MullerBayern MunichWest Germany1971Johan CruyffAjaxNetherlands1972Franz BeckenbauerBayern MunichWest Germany1973Johan CruyffBarcelonaNetherlands1974Johan CruyffBarcelonaNetherlands1975Oleg BlokhinDynamo KyivUSSR1976Franz BeckenbauerBayern MunichWest Germany1977Allan SimonsenBorussia MonchengladbachWest Germany1978Kevin KeeganHamburger SVEngland1979Kevin KeeganHamburger SVEngland1980Karl-Heinz RummeniggeBayern MunichWest Germany1981Karl-Heinz RummeniggeBayern MunichWest Germany1982Paolo RossiJuventusItaly1983Michel PlatiniJuventusFrance1984Michel PlatiniJuventusFrance1985Michel PlatiniJuventusFrance1986Igor BelanovDynamo KyivUSSR1987Ruud GullitAC MilanNetherlands1988Marco van BastenAC MilanNetherlands1989Marco van BastenAC MilanNetherlands1990Lothar MatthausInter MilanWest Germany1991Jean-Pierre PapinMarseilleFrance1992Marco van BastenAC MilanNetherlands1993Roberto BaggioJuventusItaly1994Hristo StoichkovBarcelonaBulgaria1995George WeahAC MilanLiberia1996Matthias SammerBorussia DortmundGermany1997RonaldoInter MilanBrazil1998Zinedine ZidaneJuventusFrance1999RivaldoBarcelonaBrazil2000Luis FigoReal MadridPortugal2001Michael OwenLiverpoolEngland2002RonaldoReal MadridBrazil2003Pavel NedvedJuventusCzech Republic2004Andriy ShevchenkoAC MilanUkraine2005RonaldinhoBarcelonaBrazil2006Fabio CannavaroReal MadridItaly2007KakaAC MilanBrazil2008Cristiano RonaldoManchester UnitedPortugal2009Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2010Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2011Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2012Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2013Cristiano RonaldoReal MaridPortugal2014Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridPortugal2015Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2016Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridPortugal2017Cristiano RonaldoReal MadridPortugal2018Luka ModricReal MadridCroatia2019Lionel MessiBarcelonaArgentina2020N/AN/AN/A2021Lionel MessiPSGArgentinaBallon d'Or #ballondor@francefootball ThrowbackTake a look at the 2021 Ballon d'Or ranking!#ballondor8041535🔝1️⃣0️⃣ ThrowbackTake a look at the 2021 Ballon d'Or ranking!#ballondor https://t.co/LnfwIzUPwG