After appearing for Italy under Giovanni Trapattoni during their 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, Montella was chosen as a member of the Italy team that would be competing at the 2002 World Cup, where the Italians were eliminated controversially in the round of 16 to co-hosts South Korea following a 2–1 defeat in extra time. In his only World Cup appearance, during Italy's final group stage match against Mexico in the 2002 World Cup, he had a goal wrongly disallowed. He later set up Del Piero's equaliser in the eventual 1–1 draw, which helped Italy to progress to the second round. He had warmed up and was ready to come off the bench in the round of 16 match, but South Korea's Ahn scored the golden goal moments before he was set to come on. He later also appeared for Italy in three Euro 2004 qualifying matches, but was not called up for the final tournament. He made his final appearance for Italy under Marcello Lippi, in an international friendly match against Russia on 9 February 2005, held in Cagliari, which Italy won 2–0. In total, Montella won 20 caps and scored 3 goals for Italy.