On 13 May 2014, De Gea was selected in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 World Cup, and later made the final squad.
He made his first senior international appearance against El Salvador in a 2–0 friendly victory on 8 June in preparation for the tournament, replacing Iker Casillas for the last seven minutes of the match at the FedExField in Washington D.C. As third-choice goalkeeper behind Casillas and Pepe Reina, De Gea was the only member of the squad not to feature at that World Cup, in which Spain were eliminated in the group stage.
On 4 September 2014, he made his first start for Spain, playing the whole 90 minutes against France in a Paris friendly and conceding a goal from Loïc Rémy to lose 1–0.
He played his first competitive international on his third cap on 12 October, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 win away to Luxembourg in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.

He has been tipped by many to succeed Casillas as the long-term number one goalkeeper, including Casillas himself.
On 31 May 2016, he was named to Vicente del Bosque's final 23-man Spanish squad for UEFA Euro 2016.
He started their opening match against the Czech Republic in Toulouse, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory.
He followed up with another clean sheet against Turkey as Spain won 3–0.
The following match, however, he conceded twice to Croatia as his team lost 2–1.
Spain was eliminated in the round of 16 on 27 June, with their opponent Italy scoring the only two goals of the match.

 
On 21 May 2018 he was called up to Spain's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
In Spain's first game of the tournament on 15 June, De Gea was at fault for Portugal's second goal, letting a Cristiano Ronaldo shot slip through his grasp; Ronaldo completed a hat-trick during the 3–3 draw, with his first goal coming from a penalty, and his third from a free-kick, which were Portugal's only other shots on target.
In Spain's second group match against Iran on 20 June, he kept a clean-sheet in a 1–0 victory.
De Gea continued to struggle in Spain's final group match against Morocco on 25 June, however, which ended in a 2–2 draw; his unsteady performances in the group stage drew criticism in the media, who noted that he had only made one save in the tournament.
On 1 July, De Gea also failed to make a save during Spain's 4–3 penalty shootout loss to hosts Russia in the Round of 16; the match had ended in a 1–1 draw after extra-time, with De Gea being beaten by an Artem Dzyuba penalty in the first half.
De Gea ended the tournament having conceded six goals from seven shots on target, excluding the four goals he conceded in the penalty-shootout; with only one save, he recorded fewer saves than any other goalkeeper who had played at least three matches in a single edition of the tournament since 1966.

De Gea criticised the Adidas Telstar 18 official match ball, calling it "really strange" and claiming that "it could have been made a lot better."
On 13 May 2014, De Gea was selected in Spain's 30-man provisional squad for the 2014 World Cup, and later made the final squad. He made his first senior international appearance against El Salvador in a 2–0 friendly victory on 8 June in preparation for the tournament, replacing Iker Casillas for the last seven minutes of the match at the FedExField in Washington D.C. As third-choice goalkeeper behind Casillas and Pepe Reina, De Gea was the only member of the squad not to feature at that World Cup, in which Spain were eliminated in the group stage. On 4 September 2014, he made his first start for Spain, playing the whole 90 minutes against France in a Paris friendly and conceding a goal from Loïc Rémy to lose 1–0. He played his first competitive international on his third cap on 12 October, keeping a clean sheet in a 4–0 win away to Luxembourg in UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying.
He has been tipped by many to succeed Casillas as the long-term number one goalkeeper, including Casillas himself. On 31 May 2016, he was named to Vicente del Bosque's final 23-man Spanish squad for UEFA Euro 2016. He started their opening match against the Czech Republic in Toulouse, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory. He followed up with another clean sheet against Turkey as Spain won 3–0. The following match, however, he conceded twice to Croatia as his team lost 2–1. Spain was eliminated in the round of 16 on 27 June, with their opponent Italy scoring the only two goals of the match.
 
On 21 May 2018 he was called up to Spain's squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In Spain's first game of the tournament on 15 June, De Gea was at fault for Portugal's second goal, letting a Cristiano Ronaldo shot slip through his grasp; Ronaldo completed a hat-trick during the 3–3 draw, with his first goal coming from a penalty, and his third from a free-kick, which were Portugal's only other shots on target. In Spain's second group match against Iran on 20 June, he kept a clean-sheet in a 1–0 victory. De Gea continued to struggle in Spain's final group match against Morocco on 25 June, however, which ended in a 2–2 draw; his unsteady performances in the group stage drew criticism in the media, who noted that he had only made one save in the tournament. On 1 July, De Gea also failed to make a save during Spain's 4–3 penalty shootout loss to hosts Russia in the Round of 16; the match had ended in a 1–1 draw after extra-time, with De Gea being beaten by an Artem Dzyuba penalty in the first half. De Gea ended the tournament having conceded six goals from seven shots on target, excluding the four goals he conceded in the penalty-shootout; with only one save, he recorded fewer saves than any other goalkeeper who had played at least three matches in a single edition of the tournament since 1966.
De Gea criticised the Adidas Telstar 18 official match ball, calling it "really strange" and claiming that "it could have been made a lot better."
David de Gea