All members of the Australian squad took part in a video distributed by Professional Footballers Australia.

"Those that came before us showed that being a Matilda means something," skipper Sam Kerr said.

"They showed us how to fight for recognition, validation and respect."

The video posted on social media announced: "The Matildas have a message for those who paved the way, for those who broke down barriers and fought for progress, for the past, for the future." 

It highlighted areas of inequality which included the necessity of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to ensure that players' kit was washed for them.

In 2015, the FIFA World Cup in Canada took place on artificial pitches despite attempts at legal action to reverse the decision.

"FIFA made us play the world Cup on artificial pitches, the grass was fake the disrespect was real," the Matildas video stated.

Record prize money has been announced for the 2023 tournament by FIFA with each player set to receive $30,000 (£22,000/€27,000) for making the group stages.

Members of the winning team are set to take home $270,000 (£206,340/€240,225).

"Beyond this, all member associations will also receive a record financial distribution based on their performance, which they can use to reinvest back into football in their countries and which we believe will help to propel the women's game even further," FIFA claimed.

The Australian players have pointed out that the prize pool is only a quarter of that offered for the 2022 FIFA Men's World Cup in Qatar.

"Collective bargaining has allowed us to ensure we now get the same conditions as the Socceroos, with one exception, FIFA will still only offer women one-quarter as much prize money as men for the same achievement," midfielder Tameka Yallop, who plays for Norwegian club Brann, said in the video.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino had announced that the "ambition" is to equalise pay by the 2027 tournament, but the Australians claim there has been no formal commitment to do so from FIFA.

Last month, Infantino registered his irritation at television networks who had initially refused to purchase rights to broadcast the tournament.

Infantino claimed it was a "slap in the face of all the great FIFA Women's World Cup players and indeed of all women worldwide".

FIFA had originally hoped the broadcast rights would realise approximately $300 million (£229 million/€267 million), but the Wall Street Journal suggested that the actual figure was closer to $200 million (£152million/€178million).

Australia beat France 1-0 in Melbourne last Friday, to complete their build-up.

The Australians face the Republic of Ireland at Stadium Australia on July 20 in their opening match of the competition.

Meanwhile a video produced in France by the Marcel agency for telecommunications company Orange, shows some superb goals and skills by the French team known by the nickname Les Bleues.

"Only Les Bleus can give us these emotions, but that’s not them you’ve just seen," the video caption said.

In fact, the original video features sequences of play from the French women's team and reveals that the faces of the stars of the men's team had been superimposed.

A University of Zurich study published last week found that the quality of men's and women's performances are judged similarly when the gender of the players is obscured. 

"Our results refute the assumption that low demand for women's professional soccer is based on the quality of the female players' performances," co-author Carlos Gomez insisted.

"At Orange, when we support Les Bleus, we support Les Bleues," the advert concluded.