In the history of the Women's World Cup, only eight squads have known the pressure and privilege of representing their nation on home soil in the biggest tournament in women's football.
Australia, and tournament co-hosts New Zealand, have joined the list this week with the confirmation of their 2023 Women's World Cup squads.
Headlined by captain Sam Kerr and the surprise inclusion of veteran attacker Kyah Simon, this Matildas squad sees experience and youth in equal measures -- from the 156-cap veteran Clare Polkinghorne to the bolt from the blue Clare Hunt who only debuted in February this year.
The biggest question mark leading into Australia's squad announcement was the fitness of Simon, whose inclusion in the 29-player preliminary squad raised eyebrows.
Simon tore her ACL while playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the English Women's Super League in October 2022 and many fans assumed the July 2023 World Cup deadline would be too quick for her to return to the national team.
With no opportunity to gauge her readiness and match fitness having missed the rest of the WSL season, fans were essentially in the dark about what she could do on the park, relying on the knowledge of her big tournament credentials from years gone by.
For Matildas head coach Tony Gustavsson, the possibility of where Simon could be in just a few short weeks, thanks to the work put in by herself and Australia's medical team, was enough of a reason to warrant selection.
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"She's not selected based on where she is right now, she's selected based on where we're thinking she comes in a month from now," he said. "She has a phenomenal connection with not just Sam [Kerr], but all the players. There's an understanding and a history there on the pitch that we've seen multiple times.
"The last time I saw it was in the Olympics when she was behind a lot of our goals.
"I've been very clear to Kyah, I don't expect her to start the game, I don't think she's going to be ready for that, but the game changer off the bench."
For Simon herself, selection was a relief and validation of the hard work that had been put into her rehab after a "challenging" eight months.
"I had doubts in my mind throughout that time: 'Why do I want to play football really? Why do I want to put myself through this emotionally?'" she said. "I was a moody wreck some days and then other days, I'd be on top of the world because I had small wins in my rehab."
Simon has the full trust of her teammates to play the clutch role as well.
"I think the only thing really is just getting fitness and that's the easy part of the game," Kerr said of Simon. "She has that knack for the goal, knack for doing something special, and she's kind of an X-factor. She always has been her whole career, so to have someone in the team like that, it's amazing.
"It gives us all confidence and there's 23 players that can come off the bench and do something special. But I think Kyah's right up there with having a bag of tricks in her back pocket."
Simon as the game changer makes sense with Australia likely to continue with the formation that sees its attacking weapons leading from the front from the get-go with the likes of Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso and World Cup debutant Cortnee Vine.
Vine is one of seven Matildas heading to their first World Cup joining Hunt, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Alex Chidiac, Charlotte Grant, Courtney Nevin and Clare Wheeler.
Within that list of names lies the tale of the Matildas' depth creation which has been one of the dominant storylines of the Gustavsson era. Gustavsson himself said "it hasn't been pleasant all the way through that journey," highlighting the criticism he received early on in his tenure as he navigated blooding new players with the most difficult schedule the national team had ever faced in terms of consistent high-ranking opposition.
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But he and the national team are now set to reap the benefits of that ugly grind, as evidenced by the depth in the squad.
"If you look at the roster, now we have eight backs. Meaning we have two backs in each position: left-back, right-back and four centre-backs, natural ones, so we have better depth there," Gustavsson explained.
"We have eight midfielders, two in each box whether that's wide to the left, wide to the right or central, and we have four forwards."
It's a far cry from the last World Cup where a pre-tournament injury to Laura Brock and a mid-tournament injury to Polkinghorne created a domino effect of movement across the pitch which contributed to the Matildas' round-of-16 exit.
There were fears that injury could ravage this team's Wolrd Cup chances with the last few months a seemingly never-ending parade of knocks.
Alanna Kennedy hasn't played for the national team since last year and struggled to be fit for her club thanks to a string of injuries. Mary Fowler missed the last chunk of the WSL season thanks to a fractured back. Tameka Yallop returned from one ankle injury only to hurt the other in her return to play against England in April. Polkinghorne was pictured in a teammate's Instagram story in Sweden on crutches just a few months ago.
When asked about the health of his squad, Gustavsson explained just how stressful the last few months were and how "busy" the medical team had been.
"If you would have asked me that question a month ago, I would sit here and be really worried to be honest because we had multiple players with injury issues over the last six months," he said.
"When you ask me now after having been able to train with them for two to three weeks, and the [medical team] have done a phenomenal job together with the players to get them where they are."
With injury no longer the dominant issue for this Matildas squad, the focus can shift to the incredible stories of each of these 23 players.
To Polkinghorne and Lydia Williams who have become the first Australians, male or female, to make it to five World Cups. To 20-year-old phenom Fowler, the Matildas youngest squad member, and Aivi Luik, at 38, the oldest. To Western Sydney Wanderers captain Hunt who endured five years of injury setbacks until finally catching a break and turning in one of the most eye-catching Matildas debuts in years. To Chidiac who has made her first World Cup squad after bitterly missing out in 2019. To Katrina Gorry and Yallop who will play in front of nearly 85,000 fans in the Matildas' opening match with their daughters watching on in the stands.
It's been a whirlwind. It's been exhausting. There have been tears, both happy and distraught. But, after three years of waiting for this moment, the Women's World Cup is almost finally here.