An object is to achieve stable diesel combustion and improvement in the thermal efficiency of the diesel combustion in an internal combustion engine using a fuel having a relatively high self-ignition temperature. A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a fuel injection valve capable of injecting fuel into a combustion chamber and an ignition device whose position relative to the fuel injection valve is set in such a way that it can ignite fuel spray directly. The apparatus causes pre-injected fuel to burn and generates unburned residue of the pre-injected fuel in the combustion chamber by pre-injection performed at a predetermined pre-injection time during the compression stroke and ignition of pre-spray formed by the pre-injection by the ignition device. Then, the apparatus starts main injection at such a predetermined injection start time before the top dead center of the compression stroke that enables combustion to be started by flame generated by combustion of pre-injected fuel to cause the unburned residue of the pre-injected fuel and the main-injected fuel to burn by causing the unburned residue of the pre-injected fuel and the main-injected fuel to self-ignite and causing at least a portion of the main-injected fuel to burn by diffusion combustion.