Competing in just their second World Cup, the Dutch side will travel to Lyon to face Sweden in the last four after goals from Vivianne Miedema and Stefanie van der Gragt secured their victory over Italy.
Both teams had complained about the scheduling of the match in the middle of the afternoon during a sweltering heatwave that is currently sweeping Europe.
However, it was the Dutch who dealt better with the challenging conditions in the end.
“It was really, really warm out there, but I was just trying to tell myself that it’s not hot,” Dutch player Dominique Bloodworth said.
“The second half I felt much better and that we were going to score a goal and win the game so that gives you wings.”
The result also means the Dutch have qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as one of the three best performing European sides in France.
Italian players were disappointed with their loss.
“We are really upset because we got this far and had the chance to qualify for the Olympics,” Italian player Barbara Bonansea said.
“That’s what we dreamed of.”
Italy had not reached the quarter-finals since the very first women’s World Cup in 1991, and were still happy with their overall result.
“No-one expected all this from us so we can’t be anything but happy.”
The United States and England will face off in the other semi-final on Tuesday after the Americans beat France 2-1 in a pulsating encounter on Friday.
