Van Breukelen made his international debut on 11 October 1980 against West Germany. Later, he played in qualification matches for the 1982 World Cup, Euro 1984 and the 1986 World Cup, but the Dutch team failed to qualify for any of the tournaments. In the Euro 1988 qualifiers, Van Breukelen was struggling with his form and before the qualification match against Hungary in 1987, coach Rinus Michels dropped him in favour of Joop Hiele as goalkeeper. In the next match, Van Breukelen returned as the first choice, though. In the entire qualification round, he conceded only one goal in his eight matches, contributing to the first Dutch major tournament since 1980. At Euro 1988, The Netherlands narrowly progressed through the group stage but managed to beat rivals West Germany in the semi-finals (2–1). According to Van Breukelen, beating the Germans "meant more to us than reaching the European Championship Final". The Netherlands were named European champions after winning the final against the Soviet Union (2–0). Van Breukelen caused a penalty in that match, but saved the subsequent attempt by Igor Belanov. Later, he was named best goalkeeper of the tournament.