Episode summary
Iran’s World Cup Team Divides Diaspora in LA’s ‘Tehrangeles’ | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 5 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: John Gittelsohn
Summary
Los Angeles’ Iranian diaspora found itself pulled between politics and soccer as Iran opened its 2026 World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Southern California. The game ended 2-2, but the bigger story was how fans in “Tehrangeles” responded: many remain fiercely opposed to the Iranian government while still identifying with Team Melli as their national squad.
John Gittelsohn said the community’s roots go back more than 50 years, when many Iranians came to Southern California to study at USC and UCLA and later stayed after the Iranian Revolution. He described a population that largely opposes Tehran’s rulers, including people who had celebrated earlier attacks on Iran, but who still separate the team from the regime when it comes to football.
At cafes, hookah bars, and the stadium, fans cheered Iran’s attacks and argued over symbols, with some displaying old pre-revolution flags or other anti-regime markers. The episode frames the match as a rare moment when a divided diaspora could set aside politics for 90 minutes without fully leaving it behind.
Key takeaways
- John Gittelsohn said Los Angeles’ Iranian community grew from students who came to USC and UCLA more than 50 years ago and later stayed after the Iranian Revolution.
- He said almost everyone in the diaspora opposes the current Iranian government, but many still support Team Melli as their national team.
- The Iran-New Zealand match ended 2-2, and fans in LA reportedly treated it like “Iran’s game” despite political differences.
- Some supporters used old flags or hidden shirts to signal opposition to the regime while still cheering for Iran on the field.
Notable quotes
“the region is home to the world's largest Iranian diaspora community”
“it started more than 50 years ago before the Iranian Revolution”
“They were like it's electrifying. It's Iran's game”
“they smuggled in replicas of the old flag”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio. — I want to shift gears a little bit. We're talking about sports gambling. A lot of it happening when it comes to World Cup or sports betting. There are some parts of Los Angeles that are sometimes dubbed Tehrangeles because the region is home to the world's largest Iranian diaspora community. Well, almost everyone in this expatriate enclave opposes the current Iranian government, many retain a loyalty to their national soccer squad. It's known as Team Melli.
Yeah, that squad's first game in the 2026 World Cup ended in a draw yesterday in LA. That was against New Zealand. Then it was a two to it was two to two. Um, John Gittleson's been following all of this.
He's Bloomberg News Los Angeles Bureau Chief. He spent some time during the game in a cafe. He was also in a hookah bar getting an idea of how members of the Iranian diaspora community came together and put politics aside for about 90 minutes.
He joins us from LA. I love this story, John. It's a little bit of a departure from like, you know, the traditional stuff that that we're seeing you cover and you but you get to cover a lot as LA Bureau Chief.
What what did you find happened during this game? And and actually, you know what? Scratch that.
I'm going to I'm going to call an audible here. Um, before as Tom Keen says, before you do that, just tell us why LA is home to so many Iranians.
Yeah, hi Tim. Hi Carol. Um, it started more than 50 years ago before the Iranian Revolution. A lot of people came here from Iran to study engineering in Southern California at USC and UCLA.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- iran world cup
- us iran tensions
- iranian diaspora in los angeles
- team melli
- fifa tournament politics
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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