Tacchinardi also represented his nation at international level. He made his senior Italy national football team debut in a 1–0 win over Slovenia on 6 September 1995, but was also a member of the Italy under-21 team that won the 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. Tacchinardi has been capped 13 official times for Italy with his last cap coming on 10 September 2003, in a 1–1 draw against Serbia and Montenegro. Tacchinardi was not a regular player for the "Squadra Azzurra", never playing in the final stages of a major tournament, in several cases due to injury, but also because this was a period of many high quality Italian international midfielders. It is believed that Tacchinardi would have also been a key part of the national setup had it not been for several injuries.