Australia will have their best ever preparation for a major tournament with the Matildas set to play up to 16 matches prior to their FIFA Women's World Cup opening clash with the USA.

In addition to the four games at the Cyprus Cup (highlighted by World Cup bound Netherlands and England), the Matildas will take on Scotland, Austria and two potential African nations from the Australian Institute of Sport's Italy base.

[More: Cyprus Cup squad named]

Upon a return to Australia, the team will have a further two matches (including a send off match) before heading to Canada where they will play 3 final games prior to their June 8 opener in Winnipeg.

For the European tour head coach Alen Stajcic named a 22 player squad for the Cyprus Cup with a further 3 players (Sam Kerr, Lydia Williams and Tameka Butt) to join the squad for the final three weeks.

"This is really the bulk of our preparation now heading into the World Cup," said Stajcic.

"Firstly, it's a really good opportunity to gel as a team and really get all the things we want to get out of our shape and our structure  and the way we want to play."

"Secondly, we want to get close to finalising our [World Cup] team.  By the end of this tour, I think we are going to be pretty close to the team that goes to the World Cup."

"However, the door still remains open for the players who haven't made the tour."

[More: Cyprus Cup Coverage | 2015 Women’s World Cup Coverage]

Those players include Melissa Barbieri who suffered an injury ruling her out for the next three weeks while defender Teigen Allen is also rehabbing from injury.

The changes from the NZ tour are headlined by longstanding defender Kim Carroll with the returning Aivi Luik, Danielle Brogan and Hayley Crawford and youngsters Alex Chidiac and Amy Harrison all missing out.

While it can be argued that the 25 players for the Euro Tour are leading contenders for the World Cup berths, when pressed further on how close he is to selecting the final 23 Stajcic was emphatic in his response.

"Not at all [close]. We have played two games and had 4 camps and we are still just at the early stages of preparation."

"There is so much depth in this team and there is 33 - 35 players still in contention. We are looking at different combinations and different players in different positions to see how they come up."

"There are a lot of games there and a lot of opportunity for the players to present themselves to make the final squad."

The good news for the squad is the imminent return of Sam Kerr and Tameka Butt, two of Australia's top attacking options, while goalkeeper Williams appears to be well on track for returning from an ACL.

"Our goal is to try and get them some game time on those final two games against Austria and Scotland," Stajcic said of their late addition to the European tour.

"They are all extremely valuable players in the team so we are going to give them every opportunity to try and get back to 100% fitness."

With the 14 - 16 matches pre-World Cup on top of the full time residency at the AIS, this is far and away the best preparation the national team has had leading into a major tournament.

While much needed and with a sense of "about time", the challenge for the coaching staff is to have the squad peaking to face a challenging Group D.