At an event in Sydney this morning, Matildas legend Lisa De Vanna kicked the bid off and said it was something she couldn't even have dreamed of hosting when she was a kid.

“I’m really excited,” said De Vanna. “When I think about it as a kid, I think back to my time in Perth and I never thought in a million years that I would be standing here and talking to you guys about bidding for a World Cup.

“There's no bigger event or pinnacle to women’s sport or football than playing at a World Cup.

“I’ve played for 15 years in the national team and I’ve been to three World Cups and possibly a fourth one in six months’ time and there’s no bigger stage than playing that.

“I remember going and playing in Penrith and having 17,000 people sing the national anthem to me and there's no emotion (like) that. And to be able to have that on home soil is fantastic.

“Now there's little girls out there that can look up to us as role models and have an opportunity to play in the biggest game in the world, in Australia.”

Australia is likely to face competition from New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, Columbia and South Africa for the right to host the tournament.

FFA CEO David Gallop said a final decision would be made by FIFA in the middle of 2019. 

“This would turn things up another gear, he said. “This will be great for women’s football but it’ll be good for football generally.

"It will bring social and economic benefits to the country and it’ll increase the commercial value of the game generally.

"We’re already talking to the federal and state governments about training facilities.”

He added: “It’s important to demonstrate to FIFA that the country is behind this, that it can be a great thing for women’s football, for football and for the country and we’re really excited that we move to the next phase for our bid.

“There’s a lot to get behind with Get Onside.”