Australia coach Tony Gustavsson has named injured players Kyah Simon and Alanna Kennedy in his 23-woman squad for the Women's World Cup.
Veteran striker Simon, who missed the 2019 tournament in France due to injury, tore an anterior cruciate ligament in her knee last October and has not played a game since.
Co-hosts Australia face the Republic of Ireland in Sydney in their opening game of the tournament on 20 July.
Gustavsson said 111-cap Simon, a member of the 2011 and 2015 World Cup squads, was unlikely to be fit for the first match against Ireland on 20 July but was too important as an impact player to be excluded.
"She's not selected on where she is now," he said. "She's selected on where we think she can be in a month from now.
"She’s based on being a game-changer off the bench."
Centre-back Kennedy, whose club season with Manchester City was blighted by injuries and has not featured for Australia in nearly a year, has also been included.
Midfielder Chloe Logarzo missed out after being cut by American club Kansas City in March. She has battled foot problems since recovering from a serious knee problem.
Emily Gielnik, a 57-cap forward, was also omitted after making the 29-player provisional squad, having not played since suffering an ankle injury in March and being cut by English side Aston Villa.
The other players cut were goalkeeper Jada Whyman, midfielder Amy Sayer and forwards Remy Siemsen and Larissa Crummer.
The squad includes 15 players who were selected for the 2019 World Cup in France, with captain Sam Kerr competing in her fourth tournament.
Seven players will make their World Cup debuts, including defender Clare Hunt and forward Cortnee Vine.
A number of the squad are racing to be fit, including Tameka Yallop and 156-cap centre-back Claire Polkinghorne, but Gustavsson said he was satisfied he had sufficient resources to cover through the tournament.
"The medical team has been busy, very busy," he said. "We can't wait to get the tournament under way."
Australia are in Group B with Ireland, Nigeria and Canada.
Meanwhile, Kerr said Australia's players would like to wear the "OneLove" multi-coloured armband in support of LGBTQ rights at the World Cup but it is not worth risking the co-hosts' tournament for.
Ireland captain Katie McCabe will not be permitted to wear the armband in matches. FIFA has instead sanctioned eight armbands with messages about inclusion, gender equality and peace for the women's tournament.
"We would love to wear them," said Kerr. "Like most of the teams in the whole world, everyone has voiced that they would love to wear it."
However, Kerr said the threat of an on-field sanction would keep her from wearing one.
"You saw with the men's World Cup, Harry Kane, for example, first game if he had have worn it, [he would have received] a yellow card; he got a yellow card in the game, so he would have been sent off," she said.
"It's not worth the risk; putting the team at risk, putting the tournament at risk, putting everything at risk.
"There will be multiple opportunities where we get to use our voice and there'll be multiple opportunities where I get to use my voice for things."
Australia squad
Goalkeepers: Mackenzie Arnold, Teagan Micah, Lydia Williams
Defenders: Ellie Carpenter, Steph Catley, Charlotte Grant, Clare Hunt, Alanna Kennedy, Aivi Luik, Courtney Nevin, Clare Polkinghorne
Midfielders: Alex Chidiac, Kyra Cooney-Cross, Katrina Gorry, Emily van Egmond, Clare Wheeler, Tameka Yallop
Forwards: Caitlin Foord, Mary Fowler, Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Kyah Simon, Cortnee Vine
