 Maldini made his debut for Italy in 1988, playing for 14 years before retiring in 2002 with 7 goals and 126 caps, an appearance record at the time, which has since been surpassed by Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon.Maldini captained Italy for eight years and held the record for appearances as Italy's captain (74), until he was again overtaken by Cannavaro and Buffon.With Italy, Maldini took part in four FIFA World Cups and three UEFA European Championships.