Australia's Caitlin Foord celebrates scorining their first goal. [Source: Reuters]

Women’s World Cup co-hosts Australia have never had a stronger squad than the one set to compete for a first title in the global showpiece, forward Caitlin Foord said.

The ‘Matildas’, ranked 10th in the world, have yet to go beyond the quarter-finals of a World Cup but coach Tony Gustavsson’s team head into the tournament with momentum after winning eight of their last nine matches.

Gustavsson named a 23-woman squad on Monday featuring 15 players who competed at the 2019 tournament in France and Foord, set to line up at her fourth World Cup, was impressed with the depth of talent.

Full back Ellie Carpenter said opponents had taken notice of their 2-0 upset win over European champions England in a recent friendly.

Australia will open their tournament against Ireland at Sydney’s Stadium Australia on July 20 before playing Nigeria and Canada in the group phase.

A crowd of more than 80,000 is expected for the Ireland opener, which would be a record for a women’s soccer match in the country.

Foord, however, had no concerns that the seven World Cup rookies in Australia’s squad might be overawed by the occasion.