Henderson on incredible month and going back to his roots

First-team

9 Jun 2026

Dean Henderson has enjoyed a remarkable few weeks – fresh from captaining Crystal Palace to a European trophy, he is now preparing for his first World Cup campaign with England.

The Palace 'keeper could win his fifth senior England cap when the Three Lions face Costa Rica on Wednesday evening (21:00 BST) in Orlando.

It's the final warm-up game for Thomas Tuchel's side before their tournament gets underway, coming just two weeks after Henderson lifted the Conference League on that glorious night in Leipzig.

And the Eagles' skipper says their experience of previously lifting silverware played a big part in giving his team belief they could go all the way.

Speaking to the Lions Den show from the England training camp, Henderson said: "It's incredible. Once we broke the seal and did it [winning a trophy] the first time, it made us hungry for more.

"When we got late on in the competition, in the Conference League, we felt like we'd been here before and we knew what it would take.

"When we turned up in Leipzig it was obviously a big game, a big occasion for the football club and the supporters.

"But I just knew deep down we had enough experience to get the job done and it was incredible."

Henderson joined up with the England camp last week and says the team spirit is already high sky ahead of their first group game against Croatia.

"It's great to build the connection with the lads again," he added. "I think that [building connections] is massive.

"Any successful team is always together. That's something we'll do together over the course of the next few weeks."

Henderson is one of a number of players in the current England squad who benefited from EFL experience earlier on in his career, with loan spells at Stockport, Grimsby and Shrewsbury all playing a part in his development.

Prior to that, it all started at Carlisle United's youth programme, with Henderson coming from Whitehaven, Cumbria.

When asked about playing for his former youth club, Whitehaven Miners, he added: "I remember those times clearly.

"It's such a small place where I'm from. It's incredible to hear the accent and to know I've got the support from back home – it means a lot.

"I don't get home as often now, so to know everyone's in my corner, backing me, it's such a nice feeling."

Henderson also recalled the moment he found out he would be one of the 26 players going to North America to represent the Three Lions.

"I called my Mum and my brothers straight away, [when called up] they were over the moon, they were delighted.

"They're always there being the rock in your corner. The emotions were incredible."

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