“We’re going there to win it,” Australia coach Paul Gaudoin said.

“We know that’s a mighty challenge. We think there’s some very good teams at the World Cup and it’s a different format in four-by-four pools, so anything can happen.

“We want to win every game we play. We don’t get to build into the tournament. We’re looking forward to our first game against Japan,” he said.

The Hockeyroos are in Pool D for the quadrennial tournament alongside New Zealand, Japan and Belgium.

In the 2014 edition of the tournament, Australia finished as runner-ups to host nation the Netherlands but since then have undergone serious changes which only sees six players remain for the squad four years ago. There was also a coaching change as Gaudoin took the reigns from Adam Commens.

However, the side had a good lead into the World Cup having played against both Japan and New Zealand in May’s Tri-Nations tournament, where the Hockeyroos came out as the winners with a 4-1 triumph in the final against the Black Sticks.

One thing the side has looked at is their goal scoring which was their downfall at the Commonwealth Games, where they won a silver medal.

“While we wanted to win the gold medal in the Comm Games, it was disappointing not to hit too many field goals, that’s starting to turn the corner a bit,” Gaudoin said.

“We know we have to score goals and field goals as well as corners. We’ve got a pretty solid defence we’d like to think. They’ll be tested I’m sure.

“At the same time we want to make sure we’ve got some attacking play and are creating some attacking opportunities and convert those opportunities.

MATCH DETAILS

Australia v Japan

Time: 5 am AEST

Watch live on Fox Sports