At the 1994 World Cup, he was named Italy's captain and was part of the squad that reached the final, although he would miss a penalty in the resulting shoot-out as Brazil lifted the trophy.

The two brothers ended up captaining their respective teams shortly after, with their image while exchanging pennants became the trademark of Milan's derby della Madonnina throughout the 80s.

During this bleak period for Milan, Baresi did manage to win a Mitropa Cup in 1982 and reached the Coppa Italia final during 1984–85 season, although the team failed to dominate in Serie A.

[a] When the attacking Dutch trio of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard arrived at the club in the late 1980s, Milan began a period of domestic and international triumphs, and between 1987 and 1996, at the height of the club's success, the Milan squad contained many Italian and international stars, such as Roberto Donadoni, Carlo Ancelotti, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and later Demetrio Albertini, Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban, Marcel Desailly, George Weah, Jean-Pierre Papin, Brian Laudrup and Roberto Baggio.

Baresi won the third European Cup/UEFA Champions League of his career in 1993–94 when Milan defeated Johan Cruyff's Barcelona "Dream Team" 4–0 in the final.

Milan organised a celebration match in his honour, which was played on 28 October 1997 at the San Siro, featuring many footballing stars.

[19] The Azzurri won their third World Cup, defeating West Germany in the final, but Baresi, once again, was not selected to play a match throughout the tournament.

Italy finished in fourth place after a semi-final defeat to Brazil, and losing the bronze medal match to Yugoslavia.

Baresi won his first senior international cap in a 1984 UEFA Championship qualifying match against Romania in Florence, on 14 December 1982, a 0–0 draw.

[20] Baresi helped the Italian defence to keep five consecutive clean sheets, only conceding two goals, and going unbeaten for a World Cup record of 518 minutes, until they were beaten by an Argentinian equaliser in the semi-final.

[3] After replacing Giuseppe Bergomi as captain for the 1994 World Cup under his former manager at Milan, Arrigo Sacchi, Baresi sustained an injury to his meniscus in Italy's second group match, a 1–0 win against Norway, and missed most of the tournament.

[19] Following the World Cup defeat, Baresi made one more appearance for Italy, in an away UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match against Slovenia on 7 September 1994, which ended in a 1–1 draw.

Baresi subsequently retired from the national side at age 34, passing the captain's armband to his Milan teammate Paolo Maldini.

[23] At Milan, he formed one of the most formidable defensive units of all time, alongside Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Mauro Tassotti, Filippo Galli and later Christian Panucci.

[22][23] He was a complete and consistent defender who combined power with elegance and was gifted with outstanding physical and mental attributes, such as pace, strength, tenacity, concentration and stamina, which made him effective in the air, despite his lack of notable height for a centre-back.

Baresi was known for being a strong and accurate tackler, who was very good at winning back possession, and at anticipating and intercepting plays, due to his acute tactical intelligence, speed of thought, marking ability and positional sense.

[23][26][27] A precocious talent in his youth,[30] throughout the course of his career, he also stood out for his professionalism, athleticism, longevity, and discipline in training, as well as his outstanding leadership, commanding presence on the pitch and his organisational skills; indeed, he captained both Milan and the Italy national team.

[34] In 1981, Baresi suffered from a blood infection that forced him out of play for nearly four months and worsened his health to the point of him needing a wheelchair.

[35] Baresi is featured in the EA Sports football video game series FIFA 14's Classic XI – a multi-national all-star team, along with compatriots Bruno Conti, Gianni Rivera and Giacinto Facchetti.