Fernandes won his first full cap on 10 November 2017. He came on in place of Manuel Fernandes for the last 34 minutes of the 3–0 friendly win over Saudi Arabia. Fernando Santos chose him in his team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He scored his first national team goal on 7 June. This was a header in the last warm-up match before the tournament, a 3–0 win against Algeria at the Estádio da Luz.