By 1998, Beckham was a regular international, and travelled with the England squad to the World Cup. In the second round of that competition, he received a red card for retaliation, following a foul challenge by the Argentine Diego Simeone. This act arguably cost England the game (which they lost on penalties) and the chance of advancing in the tournament. On returning home, Beckham became the target of criticism, sometimes justified (the accusation of petulance, for example), and his performance was negatively contrasted with that of Michael Owen, but much merely gratuitous including being burnt in effigy. Piers Morgan, the then editor of the Daily Mirror later apologised for some of the harsher criticism. Most commentators were mollified when it became public that the then England Manager Glen Hoddle supported a number of new age beliefs and practices that had created some conflict in the England team camp. He received a similar vilification following his dismissal for a dangerous challenge in the World Club Championships the next year.

Following England's poor performance in Euro 2000 (from which Beckham was one of the few players to emerge with credit) and later poor performances, the departure of Kevin Keegan as manager saw Beckham promoted to captain, initially under caretaker manager Peter Taylor and maintained by Sven-Göran Eriksson. His leadership, mainly by example due to his fitness and workrate helped England to qualify for the 2002 World Cup Finals and the 1-5 defeat of Germany in Munich during a qualifier (a pivotal event for English football fans). The final step in Beckham's conversion from villain to hero happened in England's 2-2 draw against Greece. Needing only one point from the match in order to qualify for the World Cup, Beckham dragged an otherwise poor England side to qualification with sheer determination and a perfectly executed, last-minute free kick. Meanwhile, taking the role of captain seems to have helped mature him, in both skill and temperament.

Two months before the start of the 2002 World Cup Finals, Beckham was injured during a Champions League match breaking the metatarsal bones of his left foot. It was a cause of some controversy as the player that caused the injury was Argentinian and as England had already been drawn against them in the group stage the British Press speculated the injury was deliberate to 'hobble' England's star player. After the miracle of the win in Munich expectations for the England squad were high but even though Beckham was declared match fit for the first match against Sweden he had only had limited training. Despite a good first half and taking the lead, England faded in the second half and Beckham was substituted with England drawing 1-1 with Sweden. The stage was then set for the showdown with Argentina. During the charged first half Owen won a penalty and when Beckham stepped forward to take it he was approached by Simeone but who was ignored. Beckham struck a clean penalty and then England hung on to win the match and then went on to draw 0-0 with Nigeria. The second round match against Denmark saw Beckham contribute to two goals from set pieces against a lacklustre side. The quarter final against Brazil again saw England start strongly with Michael Owen's brilliant individual effort but then faded after conceding a goal due to a clear error by the keeper David Seaman. During the second half Beckham pulled out of a crucial challenge that led directly to Ronaldinho's goal that sent England out of the competition.

Beckham played in all England's matches at Euro 2004, but failed to shine. He had his penalty saved by former Manchester United team-mate Fabien Barthez in his side's 2-1 defeat to France in their opening group game. Then, when England's Quarter-Final against hosts Portugal went to a penalty shootout, he was the first England player to attempt a shot. Beckham fired his shot far over the crossbar and England went on to lose the shoot-out 6-5 after Englishman Darius Vassell also missed. Beckham later blamed the miss on the poor state of the pitch, the British press blamed referee Urs Meier for the loss (he had earlier disallowed a contentious goal by Sol Campbell) even publishing his phone number and postal address. As with his performance in 1998 Beckham was negatively compared with the rising stars of the England 2004 team Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard and in some sectors it was speculated that the revelations about his private life earlier that year contributed to a poor performance.

The Spanish spectator who caught Beckham's miss put the ball up for auction on eBay Espańa. eBay soon determined that virtually all of the bids, including one for €10million, were fake. When bidding closed on 22 July, the winning bid of €28,050 was made by the Canadian internet casino GoldenPalace.com, which announced that it plans to exhibit the ball around the world for charitable purposes.

Beckham again found himself the centre of self-inflicted controversy following the match against Wales as part of the 2006 World Cup Qualifying Round. After scoring a brilliant goal from open play to give England a 2 - 0 lead Beckham then received a yellow card for a body checking foul on a Wales defender that saw the other player stretchered off and Beckham being substituted with a fractured rib. As this was the second yellow card he had received in the qualifying competition he was banned from the next match. Beckham later admitted that the foul had been intentional to ensure he would not carry forward a yellow card to the later qualifying stage even though he would miss the next England match. While some praised Beckham for his honesty others questioned his judgement considering his status as a role model for younger players.