Santala played for Team Finland in the 1999 World Junior Championship registering two points through six games. He represented Finland at the World Championships in, 2003, 2006, 2009, and 2010. However, he only played one game for the 2006 Finnish team that won the Bronze medal. Santala had a much larger role for Finland during the 2002 Karlja Cup. Finland won the Gold and Santala was named a Second Team All-Star.