The purpose of the six-yard box is often overlooked.

There was controversy with the goalkeeper being fouled during a goal scoring situation at the Germany-Paraguay game when even during the game the bbc commentators were strongly against the referee call for a foul on the goalkeeper and then later during the Spain-Austria game, a similar thing happened.
Even this bbc article doesn’t mention 6 yard box rules:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c862yvvd2qdo

but this one does about the Spain game:
https://heavy.com/sports/soccer/world-cup/why-cucurella-goal-disallowed-spain-today/

here’s the AI breakdown of the rules:

It serves three specific structural and rules-based purposes in a match:

1. The Goal Kick Zone
   When the attacking team kicks the ball past the baseline (out of bounds) behind the goal, play restarts with a goal kick.

2. ID Code for Indirect Free Kicks
   If an attacking team is awarded an **indirect free kick** inside the opponent's penalty box (usually because the goalkeeper illegally picked up a deliberate back-pass from a teammate), the rules say the kick cannot be taken closer than 6 yards out.

3. Protection for the Goalkeeper
While the rules have softened slightly over the decades to allow fair shoulder-charges, referees still give goalkeepers immense protection inside this small zone. If an attacking player aggressively crowds, bumps, or obstructs a goalkeeper who is trying to jump for a high ball inside their own six-yard box, the referee will almost always blow the whistle and call a foul in favor of the defense.