[1] Australia won the tournament after defeating Germany 2–1 in the final, collecting their second World Cup, after the title obtained in 1986.

[3] India was warned it could lose the right to host the World Cup unless satisfactory progress was made.

[4] It was confirmed on 18 July 2008 that the International Hockey Federation formally awarded the hosting rights to India.

The European confederation received three extra quotas based upon the FIH World Rankings at the completion of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In addition to the three winners of each of the three Qualifiers, the following twelve teams, shown with final pre-tournament rankings, competed in this tournament.