Joe-Max Moore played NCAA soccer at UCLA. While at UCLA he played with future national team teammates Brad Friedel, Chris Henderson and Cobi Jones. At the end of his three-year collegiate career, he had scored a total of 38 goals and assisted on 24 others in 65 games.
He played for clubs in Germany, England and the United States. In addition to his club career, Moore earned 100 caps, scoring 24 goals, for the USNT between 1992 and 2002. During those years he was part of U.S. teams at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1994, 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups.
In January 2006, Moore was inducted into the Oklahoma Soccer Hall of Fame. On April 4, 2013, Moore was elected to the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame. Moore was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame on October 11, 2014.