Les Bleus won 2-0 on the night with goals in normal time by Michael Olise and Ousmane Dembele at the Stade de France to wipe out their deficit from Thursday’s first leg.
With no further scoring in extra time the tie went to penalties, where Maignan saved from both Martin Baturina and Josip Stanisic, while Franjo Ivanovic also missed his kick for the visitors.
Jules Kounde and Theo Hernandez both failed to convert for the hosts, but Dayot Upamecano scored when he became the seventh France player to step up, sparking scenes of celebrations on the pitch and in the crowd of 77,502.
France, who won the Nations League in 2021, will now take on title-holders Spain in the semi-finals in Germany on June 5, with the winners going through to the final three days later.
Meanwhile Croatia, who lost on penalties to Spain in the final of the last edition of the Nations League in 2023, will now start their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup in June.
They will go into qualifying Group L with the Czech Republic, Montenegro, the Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.
France’s progress to the final stages of the Nations League means they will not begin their World Cup qualifying campaign until September, when they will be in Group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan.
Elsewhere, Nations League holders Spain reached the final four with a 5-4 win on penalties against the Netherlands, after a thrilling 3-3 quarter-final second leg draw had left the tie 5-5 on aggregate.
Donyell Malen missed and Barcelona’s Pedri slotted home to settle a gripping match in which the Netherlands came from behind three times to force the shoot-out.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for Spain but Memphis Depay levelled from the penalty spot.
Oyarzabal grabbed Spain’s second before Ian Maatsen rifled home to force extra-time.
Barcelona starlet Lamine Yamal, who also missed a penalty in the shoot-out, scored a brilliant goal to put Spain ahead but Xavi Simons netted another spot-kick to force penalties.
“It’s so nice to wear this shirt and to be able to score this goal,” Pedri said, with his side facing France in the semi-finals. “We’re Spain and we don’t have to fear anyone.”
After Spain’s struggles in Rotterdam on Thursday in the 2-2 first-leg draw, coach Luis de la Fuente made a handful of changes.
Oyarzabal and Dani Olmo came in for Alvaro Morata and Pedri, while Dean Huijsen made his first start, against the country of his birth, and excelled.
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman brought in debutant Maatsen at left-back, giving him the unenviable challenge of shackling 17-year-old prodigy Yamal at Valencia’s sold-out Mestalla stadium.
Spain’s success in recent years has inspired their supporters and over 20,000 watched them train ahead of the second leg, which also served as a fundraiser for damage caused by the devastating storms which hit the Valencia region last October.
They won a penalty early on when Jan Paul van Hecke clumsily brought down Oyarzabal, who scored the winning goal for La Roja in the Euro 2024 final last summer.
The Real Sociedad forward took it himself, smashing into the bottom right corner, past Bart Verbruggen’s dive.
Oyarzabal had a goal ruled out for offside and the Brighton goalkeeper denied Nico Williams with a superb stop.
Bournemouth centre-back Huijsen, 19, was jeered by the travelling Dutch fans, upset he did not choose to play for them, but Spain supporters backed him in response and he shone. (AFP)
