Having finished an excellent year with Schalke, on 4 June 2011, then-Greece head coach Fernando Santos called Papadopoulos up for the first time to the senior squad for a match against Malta. Due to an Avraam Papadopoulos injury and Sokratis Papastathopoulos' inability to play, he took their place in the squad in the centre of defence next to Vangelis Moras. Not only did he have an excellent game, but he also scored the second goal of his team. On 6 September 2011, he scored his second international goal against Latvia in UEFA Euro 2012 qualification.