After winning the Coppa Italia the following year,[12] also reaching the semifinals of the European Cup whilst putting on consistent performances, he soon was part of Italy's senior squad choices.

[13] For a time, he held the records for both the most appearances in European competition by an Italian player and the most Milan derbies played, both later broken by Paolo Maldini.

[12] Alongside the likes of Inter's Giuseppe Baresi, his younger brother Franco of A.C. Milan and Juventus trio of Antonio Cabrini, Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea, he formed the backbone of the national team's defence for much of the 1980s,[22] making his debut on 14 April 1982 in a 0–1 friendly loss in East Germany, aged only 18 years and 3 months, making him the youngest player to feature in a match for Italy post-World War II.

[26] In the victorious tournament, he appeared in three games, including Italy's 3–2 second round victory against Brazil in their final group match, where he put in a strong performance after coming on for the injured defender Fulvio Collovati, marking opposing striker Serginho Chulapa, despite later deflecting Paulo Roberto Falcão's shot into his own net;[27][28][29][30] the result allowed Italy to advance to the semi-final ahead of Brazil and Argentina in the so-called "Group of Death.

[33] Although he was initially not in manager Enzo Bearzot's plans to feature in the knock-out rounds, Bergomi also went on to play the full 180 minutes in the last two matches of the tournament.

Due to Gentile's suspension ahead of the semi-final against Poland, coupled with an injury to goalkeeper Dino Zoff, which impeded him from taking goal kicks, Bergomi started the match, keeping a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory.

[62] He partnered for the rest of the tournament with Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Costacurta and Maldini, playing three games in total, starting in the 1–0 win over Norway in the round of 16,[63] and leading Italy to a quarter-final finish, where they would be eliminated by hosts and eventual champions France 4–3 on penalties on 3 July, following a goalless draw;[64] this would be his 81st and final international appearance, to which he added six goals in total.

[66] Along with Gianluigi Buffon, Fabio Cannavaro, Paolo Maldini, and Gianni Rivera, Bergomi is one of only five Italian players to have appeared in four editions of the FIFA World Cup.

[79][84] A precocious talent in his youth (when he had initially started out as a forward),[12][54][85] Bergomi later also stood out for his longevity throughout his extensive career;[54] indeed, his experience, tactical intelligence and positional sense,[86][87][88] as well as his confidence on the ball, balance, technique and his ability to play the ball out from the back-line enabled him to excel as a sweeper towards the end of his career,[5][56][71][76][89][90] and maintain a high level of performance, in spite of his loss of pace as a result of his physical decline.

[92] In July 2009 he was appointed youth coach of Allievi Nazionali (under-17) at Monza,[93] being promoted as head of the Berretti under-19 team, in co-operation with Giuseppe Chieppa, one year later.