Television audiences for World Cup games in France and around the world have so far exceeded expectations, and the Matildas, in particular, have demonstrated their power as a drawcard.

More than half a million Australians were reported to have watched the Matildas' opening game, a disappointing 2-1 loss to Italy, at the viewer-friendly time of 9pm on a Sunday night. Figures published by audience analyst sites TV Tonight and TV Blackbox suggested 570,000 people in cities and regional areas watched the match on SBS, with many more streaming on Optus.

On the same night, according to the analysts, 444,000 watched the first session of the Australian men's cricket team's World Cup match against India free-to-air on 9Gem in Australia, while a further 246,000 tuned into the cricket that night on Fox Sports. Channel Nine owns The Canberra Times.

The opening soccer World Cup game between hosts France and South Korea was the most watched women's match ever in France with 9.83 million viewers while the England v Scotland game that same weekend attracted 6.1 million viewers in the UK.

Those numbers are just one of the reasons the FFA is keen to win the bid for 2023.

Mark Falvo, the Head of Corporate Strategy, International & Government Relations for the organisation, is in France promoting Australia's bid, as is chief executive David Gallop.

Falvo has been in Valenciennes, Montpellier and Grenoble with the Matildas but will miss the team's final group stage game with Jamaica because he is travelling to Paris for meetings with FIFA.

His mission is to learn more about exactly how the game's governing body wants their showcase women's tournament staged in the future, and to garner support from nations inclined to support Australia's bid in what is sure to be a closely contested race.

''There are workshops over the next couple of days for all of the bidding nations involved in the campaign to host WWC 2023. FIFA will be providing more in-depth information for the bidders on their requirements, on things like broadcasting, training venues, hotels, infrastructure, travel, logistics," Falvo said.

''It's also a chance for us to ask questions and to find out exactly what they want. For us it's going to be really useful to see if things they have learned from previous tournaments, especially here in France, will be implemented."

Bidders for the 2023 tournament include two more from FIFA's Asian (AFC) region, South Korea and Japan. Also bidding are New Zealand, South Africa, and several countries from South America - Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Bolivia.

No European nation is bidding as the latest edition is being staged in France while North America held the 2015 tournament in Canada.

'There's a ranking process where nation's get scored, the bid books will be submitted and inspections carried out," Falvo said.

He believes the diversity of Australia's population, the popularity of the Matildas and the successful example of the Asian Cup, which Australia hosted and won in 2015, are all powerful arguments in the country's favour.

'The Matildas are one of Australia's most loved teams and their performances in recent times, here and in previous games, have continued to elevate the team and their status in the national psyche and also overseas.

''We would expect them to be very competitive at home were we to host the 2023 tournament and that is an important factor. We are seeing here in France how vital it is for the host nation to do well to build support for the tournament,'' Falvo said.

''We saw during the Asian Cup how we were able to attract communities from so many different nationalities who came along to support their teams and create a great atmosphere. I am sure the Women's World Cup would do something similar. ''

Australia's bid for the 2022 men's World Cup went horribly wrong, with a slew of unsavoury allegations about the lobbyists the then Frank Lowy led-FFA had used, money being questionably diverted to individuals believed to have more influence than they turned out to have, the failure to attract more than a single vote in support for Australia and the waste of $45 million worth of taxpayers dollars.

FFA is determined that this time things will be different.

In the end 32 members of FIFA's council will vote on who wins, but, says Falvo, the whole process will be much more transparent as they must publicly reveal who they voted for and why.

The challenge for Falvo, Gallop and all those involved in prosecuting the bid is not just to convince FIFA members that Australia would be an excellent choice.

''Our purpose at this point is not just putting together the best possible bid, but convincing government at all levels to support it and show them the benefits to the nation of hosting such a major global tournament. There is still a lot of work to be done there.''

The bid books are due to be handed to FIFA in late this year. Site visits are scheduled for November and December with a decision in March 2020.

There has been years of criticism in Australia over the way the last bid was promoted and the amount of money spent for such little return.

Falvo says he is confident that things will be different this time.

There are no outside consultants and, he says ''FIFA have taken steps to improve the transparency of the whole process.''

Former Matilda Sarah Walsh, who is working in France for SBS, is delighted to witness first hand the buzz that is beginning to grow around the women's tournament.

She is hopeful that something similar might happen in Australia if such an event comes there.

''At a time when we are looking to increase investment into the game, a Women's World Cup on home soil would no doubt strengthen public and commercial interest in football more broadly,'' she says.

''The social impact would also be enormous, full stadiums and massive viewership numbers would go a long way towards increasing the exposure of women's football in Australia."