Joseph Costa captained the US soccer (football) team at the 1948 Olympics. He played for Ponta Delgada SC, which won the 1947 National Challenge Cup and the National Amateur Cup. Ponta Delgada was selected to represent the United States at the 1947 North American Club Championship, in which they lost two games to Mexico and Cuba. After the 1948 Olympics, Costa earned two more caps in friendlies against Norway and Northern Ireland, both in losing efforts. He was inducted into the New England Soccer Hall of Fame in 1988.