After being given his first senior international call-up by Cesare Prandelli on 10 August 2012, Poli made his debut with the Italian senior team on 15 August, coming on for Alberto Aquilani in the second half of a 2–1 friendly loss to England. On 31 May 2013, he scored his first goal with the national team, in a 4–0 friendly win against San Marino, in Bologna. After initially being included in Italys 31-man preliminary squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, he was excluded from the final 23-man squad for the tournament.