Control method of internal combustion engine and internal combustion engine

An internal combustion engine including a spark plug and a fuel injection valve directly injecting fuel into a cylinder, the spark plug and the fuel injection valve being provided at positions where a first gas flow in a direction from a side of the fuel injection valve toward the spark plug is generated at a position of an electric discharge gap of the spark plug due to a spray of fuel injected from the fuel injection valve, the internal combustion engine comprising:

• a controller configured to control a fuel injection timing of the fuel injection valve and an ignition timing of the spark plug so that an electric discharge channel generated in the electric discharge gap of the spark plug extends to a side opposite to the fuel injection valve across the spark plug by performing a fuel injection in which the first gas flow and a second gas flow in a direction opposite to a direction of the first gas flow are generated at the position of the electric discharge gap by a negative pressure action of a negative pressure region generated around the spray due to the spray and moving with the spray, the second gas flow becoming the first gas flow thereafter, and setting the ignition timing of the spark plug to a timing between a timing when the first gas flow starts to be generated and a timing when the spray completely passes the position of the electric discharge gap, the timing when the first gas flow starts to be generated being an advance limit.