Remaining 16 distributed in 2 groups of 8, back again to favourite split round robin qualifying 6 teams ( 2 winners of each round robin stage plus 2 better season record on overall round robin) plus 2 teams on repechage (!)
There are 16 teams remaining, split into two groups of eight. They participate in a round-robin format where the top six teams (two winners from each group plus two with better season records based on overall round-robin results) advance to the qualifying stage, and then two additional teams join via the repechage.