Continental qualifications
DIRECT QUALIFICATIONS
Host CHN 
and 2007 World Champion RUS 
directly qualified.
Africa
The teams from Angola, Ivory Coast, Congo and Tunisia qualified as part of the 2008 African Championship, which was staged from 8 to 17 January 2008 in Angola.
RESULTS
ANG - TUN 44:26 (Semi-final 1/Semi-final 1/Halbfinale 1)
CIV - CGO 29:28 (Semi-final 2/Semi-final 2/Halbfinale 2)
CGO - TUN 30:25 (Places 3/4/Places 3/4/Plätze 3/4)
CIV - ANG 27:39 (Final/Finale/Finale)
Final ranking: 1. ANG, 2. CIV, 3. CGO, 4. TUN
Qualified:
ANG 
CIV 
CGO 
TUN
Asia
The Asian Women's Handball Championship, which took place from 21 – 30 November 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand was to allocate 4 places.
RESULTS
KAZ - VIE 43:18 (Places 5/6/Places 5/6/Plätze 5/6)
CHN - JPN 29:28 (Semi-final 1/Semi-final 1/Halbfinale 1)
KOR - THA 38:17 (Semi-final 2/Semi-final 2/Halbfinale 2)
THA - JPN 16:39 (Places 3/4/Places 3/4/Plätze 3/4)
KOR - CHN 35:23 (Final/Finale/Finale)
Final ranking: 1. KOR, 2. CHN, 3.JPN, 4.THA, 5. KAZ
Qualified:
KOR 
JPN 
THA 
KAZ
Europe
QUALIFIED
2008 European Champions: NOR
Rank 2 at EURO 2008 in Macedonia: ESP 
Another eight places were allocated through play-off matches taking place on 6/7 and 13/14 June 2009.
RESULTS
SVK - HUN 21:22, 22:33
SWE - MNE 24:17, 28:28
SRB - GER 24:29, 19:22
CRO - FRA 27:23, 24:32
BLR - ROU 31:32, 32:28
MKD - AUT 32:28, 25 34
POR - DEN 21:38, 22:41
UKR - NED 27:21, 30:27
Qualified:
HUN 
, SWE 
, GER 
, FRA 
,
ROU 
, AUT 
, DEN 
, UKR 
Pan-America
The 2009 Pan-American Championship, which took place in Chile from 23 –27 June, established the WCh participants from Pan-America:
RESULTS
BRA - DOM 38:12 (Semi-final 1/Semi-final 1/Halbfinale 1)
CHI - ARG 11:34 (Semi-final 2/Semi-final 2/Halbfinale 2)
DOM - CHI 30:34 (Places 3/4/Places 3/4/Plätze 3/4)
BRA - ARG 25:26 (Final/Finale/Finale)
Final ranking: 1. ARG, 2. BRA 3. CHI, 4. DOM
Qualified:
ARG 
, BRA 
, CHI 
Oceania
As there were no continental qualifications in Oceania, the IHF nominated Australia as the representative.
Qualified:
AUS 