After making his senior debut with Porto (where he was only a reserve) he went on to play in Germany, France, Spain, Qatar, Greece and Switzerland mainly spending several years with Valencia in the third country.

He made his Primeira Liga debut in a 20 January 2002 derby precisely against Boavista (2–0 away loss, 90 minutes played),[2] but never became more than a fringe player, being preferred in the stopper's pecking order in consecutive seasons to namesake Jorge, Pedro Emanuel, Pepe and Bruno Alves.

[5] In the summer of 2009, he was about to be transferred to Real Zaragoza, but the deal collapsed after the two parties could not reach an agreement;[6] the move was finally cancelled on 29 July, and the player returned to Wolfsburg.

[18] PAOK FC signed Costa in late January 2015, following a successful medical;[19] in an interview to Portuguese newspaper A Bola a few months after his transfer, he talked about his experience in Asia by stating: "It was a completely different reality, that I couldn't accept.

[21][22] Costa returned to Spain and its top division on 1 February 2016, to join Granada CF until June 2017;[23] he vowed to defend his new team "to the death".

[33] On 10 May 2010, national team boss Carlos Queiroz announced a provisional list of 24 players in view for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with Costa being included, thus returning to the squad after a four-year absence.

He scored his only international goal on 11 October 2013 in a 1–1 home draw against Israel,[37] and was named by manager Paulo Bento in the final 23-man squad for the tournament in Brazil.

[39] He was then selected to replace the suspended Pepe in a 2–2 draw with the United States, making a goal-line clearance from Michael Bradley in the second half.