On 16 November 1994, Negro made his debut for Italy, in a 2–1 home loss against Croatia in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier. He received a total of eight caps with the "Azzurri" between 1994 and 2000, and he was selected by manager Dino Zoff to be a member of the Italian squad that took part at Euro 2000 tournament, where the national team reached the final, finishing the tournament in second place behind France.