In his international career, Collovati played 50 games and scored 3 goals: he made his senior debut for Italy on 24 February 1979 against the Netherlands (3–0) and he scored his first international goal on 16 February 1980 during Italy–Romania (2–1). Collovati was a member of the Italy squad that finished in fourth place at the 1980 European Championships on home soil, missing the decisive penalty in the shoot-out of the bronze-medal match against Czechoslovakia. Collovati represented his country in 8 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was a protagonist at the 1982 World Cup in Spain where Italy won the World Cup for a third time, and Collovati was named as a member of the team of the tournament. He also made an appearance for Italy at the 1986 World Cup.