As the filter gets dirty the fuel pump has to work harder (draws more current), and will burn out faster. Also, most fuel systems are “return” types: excess fuel pumped from the tank to the fuel pressure regulator gets returned to the gas tank. Any crud that isn’t filtered out can keep getting recirculated blocking injectors/screens and wearing out the fuel pump. Putting in a new filter every 2 years/30,000 miles is cheap insurance and good preventive maintenance.
There are a number of things that should be done if you plan on keeping a car past 100,000 miles, but most car makers know that most people won’t, so they don’t mention them.