Internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine in which a swirling flow occurs in a cylinder, said engine comprising:

• an electronic control unit;
• a fuel injection valve that has a plurality of nozzle holes including at least a first nozzle hole and a second nozzle hole for injecting fuel into said cylinder;
• and
• a spark plug that is disposed at a position through which said swirling flow flows, and which is at the downstream side of the flow of said swirling flow from an extension line of said first nozzle hole and at the upstream side of the flow of said swirling flow from an extension line of said second nozzle hole, said spark plug to ignite sprays of fuel injected from said fuel injection valve;
• wherein
• said first nozzle hole and said second nozzle hole are formed in such a manner that a shortest distance from the extension line of said first nozzle hole to said spark plug is longer than a shortest distance from the extension line of said second nozzle hole to said spark plug, and
• a timing of an ignition of the spark plug is controlled such that the ignition occurs when outer edges of the sprays of fuel that are carried away by the swirling flow are in an ignitable region of the spark plug such that each of the sprays are ignited at the same time.