Simon, who has scored five goals across two World Cup appearances, was the big name missing from Ante Milicic's 23-woman squad announced on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old has endured a wretched run with injury since the last tournament in Canada.

Two shoulder reconstructions, following by an ankle reconstruction at the turn of the year meant it was always going to be tough for Simon to beat the clock and prove her fitness.

Earlier this month she got onto the pitch for her US club Houston Dash for a short substitute outing, only to suffer a hamstring setback.

After that injury, Milicic decided he couldn't pick her for a third World Cup.

"Thirteen minutes in six months. It's not enough," he said.

"When I look back at all her match minutes for club and country from January 2018 she's fallen well short. There's been a steep decline.

"Her last full game was in May last year.

"I understand the quality that she can bring, but it was my call that it was too much of a risk at this stage."

Simon will still travel to Turkey at week's end to be part of the pre-tournament camp.

"I think she deserves to be brought in and, if anything, have one eye on the Olympics and try to assist her in getting back to some kind of form and fitness," Milicic said.

The other eyebrow-raising omission is Alex Chidiac, one of just a handful of Australians playing in Europe.

The 20-year-old South Australian left the W-League and signed for Spanish title-winners Atletico Madrid, being employed mainly from the bench.

"In the last couple of weeks she hasn't even been in the match day squad. There's just not enough kilometres in the legs for me," Milicic said.

"She really needs to have a look at her situation at the club and look at playing match minutes. That's what's most important particularly for a young player."

Australian Associated Press