Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has said he believes it was vital for French football that his side reached the Champions League group stage.
Leonardo Jardim's team secured their place with a 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Stade Louis II on Tuesday as Fabinho's late penalty gave them a 3-1 aggregate victory in the playoff round.
France had started the season in sixth position in UEFA's ranking for club competitions, which is used to decide how many teams from each country qualify for Europe and at what stage they enter each tournament.
Results so far have seen France leapfrog Portugal in the list and Vasilyev believes everyone in Ligue 1 should be pleased to see Monaco joining Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain in going through.
"We're in the Champions League for the second time in three years," L'Equipe quoted him as saying.
"In the group stage, we don't really have an objective. We're thinking in particular about playing well -- about displaying a good image of Monaco and of French football.
"We got some points for the UEFA coefficient, something that we all need. It's important to widen the gap with Portugal and Russia."
Meanwhile, Vasilyev indicated that Tuesday's success had increased Monaco's chances of keeping their squad together.
After losing to Valencia at the same stage of last season's competition, they sold players as Anthony Martial, Aymen Abdennour and Layvin Kurzawa.
However, Vasilyev added that there was no guarantee they would not sell again in the final few days of the current transfer window.
He said: "Unfortunately in football, that [a guarantee] doesn't exist, but we've reinforced ourselves well.
"We don't need to sell but we hope to keep the squad the way it is -- sporting ambition is really the priority."