"We were lucky," France captain Yannick Noah said. "The Dutch boys were starting to believe in themselves."
Adrian Mannarino has the first shot on Sunday at completing France's comeback, and an 11th successive win against the Dutch.
Australian Open singles finalist Marin Cilic was summoned by Croatia just hours beforehand to combine with Ivan Dodig, but the old partners almost took too long to get energized against Canada. The 45-year-old Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil won the first two sets but couldn't hold on and lost 2-6, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
Cilic is playing only doubles, and leaving Borna Coric to try and win the tie on Sunday against Denis Shapovalov in Osijek. Canada hasn't won an away tie since 2011.
Spain led Britain 2-1 in Marbella after Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez dusted off Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4).
In the absence of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, the first reverse singles on Sunday will be between Albert Ramos Vinolas and Cameron Norrie. But Australian Open semifinalist Kyle Edmund practiced after the doubles and could be available for Britain.
Germany led Australia 2-1 in Brisbane thanks to Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff prevailing against Matthew Ebden and John Peers 6-4, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4.
The visitor was also up in Morioka, where Italy led Japan after Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini outlasted Ben Mclachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-5.
By Foster Niumata, The Associated Press