São PauloTwo polls this week put Flávio Bolsonaro ahead 51% to 49%.
Both candidates are chasing the 33 million voters, one in five, who skipped the first round.
Bolsonaro promised 500,000 new prison places and a narco-terrorist label for gangs, while Lula defended above-inflation minimum wage rises.
“You have to work two or three jobs just to pay the bills,” said Sara Machado, 36, at the São Paulo rally.
A second debate comes 23 October, two days before the run-off.
How each outlet framed it
drawn from 350+ reports worldwide · These outlets told this story differently.
- Al Jazeera Online leans critical
- centres the debate on Bolsonaro pacing behind Lula and the 'Brazil is going to retire you' line, reading it as a deliberate intimidation tactic
- South China Morning Post
- ties Lula's questions to alleged links with jailed banker Daniel Vorcaro and a pension fraud scandal, and notes Lula's bid to be the first to win after finishing second in round one
- France 24
- reads the debate as a test of the polarised electorate, noting Bolsonaro's first-round lead and the Brazil-US ties on the agenda
Sources: Al Jazeera Online, South China Morning Post, France 24