An internal combustion engine comprising at least a crank case, which houses a cylinder, and a cylinder head, which is adapted to be coupled to the crank case, and a liquid cooling circuit, wherein the liquid cooling circuit comprises at least one inlet aperture and at least one outlet aperture, a lower cooling chamber housed in said cylinder head in a position adjacent to a flame deck of said cylinder head; an upper cooling chamber housed in said cylinder head above said lower chamber, so that said lower chamber is sandwiched between said upper chamber and said flame deck; wherein said inlet aperture is provided in said upper or lower chamber and said outlet aperture is provided in said lower or upper chamber, on a same side of the internal combustion engine, so that the cooling liquid runs in a substantially U-shaped path moving between said upper chamber and said lower chamber, transversely relative to a crankshaft of said engine.