in march 2007, medel made his international debut for chile in a friendly against argentina. later that year, he played a key role in chile's third-place finish in the u-20 world cup held in canada. he was sent off in the semi-final match against argentina, when he kicked gabriel mercado in the 24th minute and was suspended for the third-place play-off. medel claimed that he was tasered by police after the match.