Two-time Olympic champions Tita and Banti have announced that they will return to competition. Their goal is to win a third gold medal at the 2028 Olympics.
There will be a change for next year with 18 teams in two groups and introduction of WCH - B and C Divisions
Two pools of nine teams
Pool winners progressing directly to the semi-finals
Second and third placed teams from each pool will play crossover qualification games for the remaining semi-final spots
By the way, i think it's time to freshen up the format. Everyone playing everyone with 12 teams has gotten a bit repetitive.
I would expand the field to 16 teams, split them into two groups of 8. Everyone plays 7 matches in their group and then top 4 go to the 1/4. Or top 2 go to the 1/4 and 3-6 go to a play-off round ala UEFA. It would make more stakes from the currently endless round-robin.