On 15 October 2010, Goretzka made his Germany national U-16 football team debut in a friendly against Northern Ireland and he scored in the 3–2 victory. On 24 August 2011, he made his Germany national U-17 football team debut against Turkey in a 4–0 victory. In May 2012, he captained the Germany national U-17 football team at the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Slovenia and led the German U-17 team all the way to the final against the Netherlands. In the final, Goretzka scored the lead goal of the match taking the scoreline to 1–0 and his goal was compensated in stoppage time taking the scoreline to 1–1; the subsequent penalty shoot-out was won by the Netherlands. On 8 August 2013, he debuted for the Germany national U-21 football team under Horst Hrubesch, in a 0–0 draw against France in which he had a magnificent match.