The Women's World Championship is abandoning the setup with one seeded and one unseeded group in the World Championship from 2026 onwards.
The system was introduced to achieve more even matches in the championships, but has made it harder for the unseeded teams.
Now it is believed that there are more nations than before that hold a high level.
From 2026 onwards, the two five-team groups will be made equal, where teams will be cross-distributed from the seeding.
The development of women's hockey has come so far that this becomes the completely right system. It reflects the sporting competition better, says Ulf Lundberg, whose national team is meeting the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Finland in a four-nation tournament on home ground in Södertälje this week.
Looking at the three teams we're meeting here, all are better ranked than us, but we have very good statistics against both Switzerland and Finland, says Lundberg.
Sweden is eighth on the world ranking on the women's side and begins the home tournament against world number three the Czech Republic on Wednesday.
The next World Championship, in the Czech Republic in 2025, will, just like previous years, be played with one seeded and one unseeded World Championship group.
The women's crowns have been eliminated by Canada in the quarterfinals in the three most recent World Championship tournaments.
