[1] To qualify directly, a nation had to be ranked in the top six following the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships.
[6] Note: Several WC 2020 tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic so points for that year were earned based on overall finish in 2019.
[8] As a result Iceland, the highest seeded team, automatically advanced to the next round.
Each tournament winner was ranked by their qualification seeding and entered the next round as qualifier four, five or six.
On 3 September 2021, the IIHF announced that it had moved the tournament to Nottingham, Great Britain due to COVID-19 restrictions in South Korea.
Each tournament winner was ranked by their qualification seeding and played in Group B as qualifier one, two, or three.