Russia, who also won one silver and three bronzes, were followed by France and Belgium.

The surprise in the final had been prefaced by another early shock as world number one Aleksandar Kukolj of Serbia was beaten by Yahor Varapayeu of Belarus, who finished fifth.

Bronze medals went to Spain's Nikoloz Sherazadishvili and Theodoros Tselidis.

Igolnikov denied he had any pressure facing a world champion in the final in the Tel Aviv Convention Centre.

"No not at all, because he is an ordinary human, and yes, he could be world title holder," he said.

"In principle, he is not an easy opponent and not everyone can be world champion.

"You should never underestimate your opponent, but also should not put them on a pedestal.

France won two final gold medals in the top two women’s weights.

A Gallic victory was guaranteed in the under-78kg class as two French judoka met - Olympic bronze medallist Audrey Tcheumeo and Madeleine Malonga.

Although Tcheumeo struck first with a waza-ari, Malonga’s discipline and technical skills earned her her first European title.

Bronze medals went to Britain's Natalie Powell and Anna Maria Wagner of Germany.

The top women’s weight, over-78kg, also went to France as 18-year-old Romane Dickov, having earlier defeated the defending champion, Marina Slutskaya of Belarus, went on to earn the gold medal by beating triple European medallist Larisa Celic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Bronze medallists in this class were Yelsaveta Kalanina of Russia and The Netherlands' Tessie Savelkouls.

In the men’s under-100kg category, Belgium’s Toma Nikiforov defeated France’s Olympic bronze medallist Cyrille Maret, thus claiming gold to go with the European silver and bronze already in his possession.

Zelim Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan and Peter Paltchik of Israel claimed bronze.

In the men’s topweight, over-100kg, the gold medal went to the Czech Republic’s Lukáš Krpálek - already European, world and Olympic champion at under-100kg.

"It is a big difference," he said after defeating Russia's Tamerlan Bashaev in the final.

"At the under-100kg people were more technical and powerful.

"In this weight class, everyone is really strong, so I need to spend time in the gym every day to get stronger and stronger.

"I definitely want to be world champion in the over-100kg and I am going to start the qualification and the hard work towards Tokyo 2020."

Bronze medallists in the men's top weight were Henk Grol of the Netherlands and Austria's Stephan Hegyi.