[1] At club level he played for Aris Thessaloniki, Werder Bremen, Ajax, Feyenoord, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04, Arles-Avignon, and Al-Nassr.

It was during his first season at Aris that Charisteas started making a name for himself, scoring twice in nine matches as they won the Greek second division in 1997–98.

Charisteas started well in his first season in the Greek top league and got further noticed when he scored twice in the local derby against Thessaloniki rivals PAOK.

He returned to Aris the following season and made his European debut in a UEFA Cup defeat by Celta de Vigo at the age of 19.

[citation needed] Werder Bremen Sporting director, Klaus Allofs attested "Angelos is strong header of the ball, very fast and has good tactical behaviour".

[5] Greece manager Otto Rehhagel had publicly urged Charisteas to try to move to another club during the January 2005 transfer window, in order to get more first-team action.

Ajax fitted the bill, as they were hoping to find a replacement for Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimović, who had been sold to Juventus.

Charisteas made his Ajax debut on 23 January 2005 against FC Utrecht and scored his first goal four days later against SC Heerenveen.

Under new Ajax manager Henk ten Cate, Charisteas was the 5th striker behind Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ryan Babel, Markus Rosenberg, and Rydell Poepon.

Despite stating that he was only interested in a move to England or Germany, Charisteas signed for arch-rivals Feyenoord in Rotterdam on 31 August 2006, the final day of the summer transfer window.

On 2 February 2009, he was loaned out to Bayer Leverkusen until the end of the season,[7] helping the team to reach the final of the German Cup.

After interest from Inter Milan, reported in the newspaper Corriere dello Sport, on 17 February 2013, Charisteas signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Al-Nassr FC.

In January 2007, Charisteas told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that winning Euro 2004 was an unbelievable experience which he would not swap for all the money in the world: "Even in 50 years time, everybody will remember that I scored the goal which made Greece the champions of Europe.

On 11 October 2011, he scored the winning goal in the 85th minute in Georgia, securing a 2–1 victory which sent Greece automatically to the UEFA Euro 2012 With this goal, Charisteas score in three qualifiers for European Championship and for three consecutive World Cups, became the only player to reach that distinction in the Greece national team.

Charisteas also became the second top scorer for the Greece national team with 25 goals, four fewer than the retired Nikos Anastopoulos.

[13][14] He initially worked loosely as a player agent, and obtained a UEFA B license before registering to acquire further coaching certificates.