He seldom disappointed at left back for the Red Devils, where he had to compete with Vital Borkelmans, Didier Dheedene, Philippe Léonard and Peter Van Der Heyden. Van Kerckhoven made his debut on 29 May 1996 in a 2-2 draw in a friendly match in Italy. His career in the national team was a relatively short six years, partly due to injury. He did manage to participate in three big tournaments: the European Championship in 2000 and the 1998 and 2002 World Cup.