Qualification
Each of the continental champions from five confederations and the host nation received an automatic berth. The confederations of Europe and Asia received two and one extra quotas respectively based upon the FIH World Rankings at the completion of the 2008 Summer Olympics. As the future host Argentina emerged as the Pan American champion, this allowed the European confederation to receive another extra quota. Alongside with the three winners of each of the three Qualifiers, twelve teams competed in this tournament.
| Dates | Event | Location | Quotas | Qualifier(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host nation | Argentina | |||
| 7–15 February 2009 | 2009 Pan American Cup | Hamilton, Bermuda | 1 | —1 |
| 10–18 July 2009 | 2009 Hockey African Cup for Nations | Accra, Ghana | 1 | South Africa |
| 22–29 August 2009 | 2009 EuroHockey Nations Championship | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 4 | Netherlands Germany England Spain |
| 25–29 August 2009 | 2009 Oceania Cup | Invercargill, New Zealand | 1 | New Zealand |
| 29 October – 8 November 2009 | 2009 Hockey Asia Cup | Bangkok, Thailand | 2 | China India |
| 26 March – 3 April 2010 | Qualifier 1 | San Diego, United States | 1 | Korea |
| 17–26 April 2010 | Qualifier 2 | Kazan, Russia | 1 | Japan |
| 24 April – 2 May 2010 | Qualifier 3 | Santiago, Chile | 1 | Australia |
| Total | 12 | |||
- ^1 – Argentina qualified both as host and continental champion, therefore that quota is given to the European confederation allowing the fourth placed team at their continental tournament to qualify directly to the World Cup.
Read more about this topic: 2010 Women's Hockey World Cup