Qualification
Except for Africa, all other four confederations received quotas for teams to participate allocated by the International Hockey Federation based upon the FIH World Rankings at the completion of the 2008 Summer Olympics. Those teams participated at their respective continental championships but could not qualify through it, and they received the chance to qualify through one of the three tournaments based on the final ranking at each competition.
| Dates | Event | Location | Qualifier(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7–15 February 2009 | 2009 Pan American Cup | Hamilton, Bermuda | United States Chile —1 Canada Mexico |
| 19–25 July 2009 | 2009 EuroHockey Nations Trophy | Rome, Italy | Belgium Italy Wales France Belarus |
| 22–29 August 2009 | 2009 EuroHockey Nations Championship | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Ireland Azerbaijan Russia Scotland |
| 25–29 August 2009 | 2009 Oceania Cup | Invercargill, New Zealand | Australia |
| 29 October – 8 November 2009 | 2009 Hockey Asia Cup | Bangkok, Thailand | Korea Japan Malaysia |
- ^1 – Trinidad and Tobago withdrew
Read more about this topic: 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup Qualifiers