France's Macron and Le Pen set to face off in presidential debate

Le Pen recently admitted that the debate in 2017, which had an audience of 16.5 million people, was a failure

France's two presidential candidates will debate on Wednesday night in a highly anticipated test of their readiness for the upcoming runoff election.

Qazet.az reports that it's the first such debate since the candidates began the election campaign after President Emmanuel Macron refused to debate in the first round of the election.

The 2.5-hour debate on Wednesday marks an important chance for the last two candidates, incumbent Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen, to convince voters who will head to the polls on Sunday.

It's also a repeat of their 2017 televised confrontation which was seen as influential in the campaign.

The debate was viewed as a loss for Le Pen who at times appeared confused on economic issues and more combative than her opponent. Overall the debate was viewed as tense between the two candidates.