He captained the side for the first time for Wales' friendly with Panama on 13 November 2017, in which he equalled his former manager Gary Speed's record of 85 international caps for an outfield player. The following 22 March, Gunter made the record his own when he featured in a 6–0 win over China at the 2018 China Cup. On 20 November 2018, he surpassed Neville Southall's record of 92 caps for Wales in a 1–0 friendly loss away to Albania, in which he was captain for the second time. Gunter became the first player to attain 100 caps for Wales in the 1–0 friendly win against Mexico on 27 March 2021.