 Carnevale was a regular starter for the Italians in the run up to the tournament in friendlies and appeared in Italy's first two group games of the World Cup.After being replaced by Totò Schillaci in Italy's opening game of the 1990 tournament with Austria, Carnevale watched on as Schillaci scored 2 minutes later.Carnevale started the next game against USA, but after he failed to score, he was once again replaced by Schillaci.